My Little Pony Will Of Fire (Season 3)
by DragonDan2453
Summary: Season 3 is about how after an entire year's absence, Flareon returned to Equestria. Even though a lot has happened since Flareon was gone, from Shining Armor and Cadance getting married and becoming a prince and princess, a new reformed Discord, and Twilight's magical duel with Trixie, a new chapter for Flareon's life in Equestria was about to begin.
1. The Chosen One Returns

Chapter 1  
The Chosen One Returns

It now has now been one full year since Flareon sacrificed himself to defeat Alexei and saved Equestria from complete annihilation. Though it was hard at first everyone, including Twilight, Solana, and Spike, eventually were able to move on. Within the past year in Equestria a lot has happened. First off, Twilight's older brother Shining Armor and her foalsitter Cadance got married. However, the wedding was interrupted after Canterlot was infiltrated and attacked by Queen Chrysalis and her army of changelings. Luckily, Twilight and her friends were able to foil Queen Chrysalis's plan and saved Canterlot. The wedding went off without a hitch. Did I forget to mention that Shining Armor and Candace became a prince and princess? Pretty sweet right? What can I say, it's Princess Celestia were talking about. She can pretty much do anything she wants. A few months later, the Crystal Empire returned, along with the evil unicorn who ruled over it 500 years ago, King Sombra. In the end, Twilight and her friends, not to mention Spike, managed to save the city and defeated King Sombra once and for all. Shortly after, Shining Armor and Cadance left Canterlot and moved there as the new prince and princess of the Crystal Empire. Also, Princess Celestia decided that Discord's chaos magic should be used for good instead of evil and had Twilight and her friends use the Elements of Harmony to release Discord from his seal. Celestia's plan was to have Fluttershy reform Discord. Even though it seemed impossible at first, Fluttershy was successfully able to reform him. Discord, the dragon known as the master of chaos and mischief, is now a good guy. Try to wrap your mind around that one. Well, that's really about it as nothing much else happened, but enough about the past, let's get back to the present. It was the anniversary of the day Flareon defeated Alexei. Everyone in Ponyville lit a torch in front of their houses as a sign to thank Flareon for what he did that day. Princess Celestia even announced this day as national Chosen One Appreciation Day. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all seen recollecting on the memories of their dear friend Flareon. Meanwhile, at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, Cheerilee decided to have a Show-and-Tell day. As a pony was returning to their desk, Cheerilee looked at her students and said, "Alright...so who wants to go next?" In a blink of a eye, Solana's right hoof shot into the air as she almost fell out of her chair in anticipation.

"Me! Pick me! Me!" Solana exclaimed. After Cheerilee agreed to let her go next, Solana quickly ran to the front of the class, but not after tripping over her own hooves at least three times. After Solana managed to catch her breath, she said, "I'm going to tell the story of my dad defeating Alexei!"

"Oh Solana," Cheerilee sighed as she smiled, "You've already told that story ten times already." However, her students were eager to hear the story again, even though they have already heard it multiple times as every Show-and-Tell day Solana had told the story of how Flareon defeated Alexei and saved Equestria. For some reason, the story became better each time Solana told it.

"I don't mind!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"Yeah! I want to hear it again!" Sweetie Belle replied.

"Tell the part when Flareon punched Alexei in the face! That was so awesome!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Whatever," Diamond Tiara said as she looked away. However, even Diamond Tiara was still interested in hearing the story again as her eyes slowly turned and focused on Solana. Shortly after, Solana began to tell the story of how Flareon finally managed to defeat the dragon of darkness. Since Solana never actually witnessed Flareon's battle against Alexei, she had now make up her own version of the battle. Solana's story got more and more crazy every time she told it to the point where Flareon shot laser beams from his eyes to destroy the rockets Alexei fired from his mouth. Even still, everyone believed that was what actually happened. However, the part at the end where Flareon used his special move called the Big Bang Cannon to defeat Alexei remained the same. After Solana was done, everyone quickly gave her a round of applause.

"My dad was the best dad ever!" Solana exclaimed. Suddenly, she stopped smiling and looked down. "I just wish my mom felt better." A pin drop hitting the floor could easily be heard in the room as everyone quickly became silent. It turns out Twilight had fallen into a deep depression the week leading up to today. All she did was lay in her bed for hours on end and refused to leave the house. Twilight didn't even bother to read the letters Princess Celestia had sent her. The only reason she got out of bed was to go to bathroom or eat, that was it. After a few minutes of silence, Cheerilee finally decided to break it.

"I'm sure Twilight will feel better soon Solana," Cheerilee replied, "Just give your mom some time." Solana slowly nodded her head as she gave Cheerilee a weak smile and then returned to her desk. Later on, after everyone had their turn, the school bell suddenly rung signaling the end of the school day. For the 10th straight time, Solana was voted as the best Show-and-Teller. As everyone went outside, Solana said goodbye to her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders and began to walk back home to Golden Oak Library.

"I hope mom is feeling better," Solana muttered. A couple of minutes later, Solana made it home and went upstairs to check up on her mom. Tissues could be seen laying all around Twilight's bed. The bedroom curtains were all closed. Not an inch of sunlight was able to enter. The letters sent by Princess Celestia for Twilight were carelessly stacked together in the corner of the bedroom. "Mom?" Solana muttered, "How are you feeling?" As Twilight turned around in the bed, her eyes were completely red as if she had cried for quite sometime. Her mane was a horrible mess as it had not been combed in days. Twilight looked at Solana, but didn't say anything. "Hey! How about we go to the park? It's a beautiful day today." Twilight continued to stare at her blankly. "Or how about bowling? Ice skating? A movie? Anything?" Nothing Solana said was able to get a reaction from her mom. Solana looked at the ground and muttered, "If dad was here, he would play with me." Twilight quickly turned around in the bed and pulled the covers over her in response to Solana's words. Seeing as getting anything more from Twilight was pointless, Solana walked back downstairs and left the house. Meanwhile, Twilight began to recollect on her memories of Flareon, from their wedding day, to the birth of their daughter, to the part where Flareon said his goodbyes to her. Again she started to cry uncontrollably as tears fell down her face onto the bed sheets. Soon after, Solana was meet by Rainbow Dash and the others. It didn't take long before they could tell something was wrong.

"Hey Solana," Applejack said, "How's Twilight holding up?"

"She still won't get out of bed," Solana muttered.

"Oh dear...isn't there anything we can do for her?" Fluttershy asked.

"What can we do?" Rainbow Dash replied, "It's not like we can just bring Flareon back. He's gone." As everyone began to ponder thinking of a way to help Twilight, Solana was suddenly hit with an idea.

"Hey everyone! I got an idea!" Solana exclaimed as everyone got close together around her, "Listen up...here's what were going to do." Four hours later, at Golden Oak Library, Twilight was still lamenting about Flareon's death as she laid under the covers when she suddenly heard screaming. However, this wasn't joyous screaming, it was scared screaming. Immediately, she threw the bed sheets off her, moved back the curtains, and opened the window. Twilight desperately looked around outside and soon spotted a pony.

"Hey! What's going on? Why is there screaming?!" Twilight yelled.

"You're not going to believe this!" the pony replied, "A gigantic T-Rex dinosaur is attacking the town square! Hurry! We need your help Twilight!" As the pony headed towards the town square, Twilight closed the window and quickly ran downstairs. Twilight knew this was no time to be laying in bed feeling sorry for herself, Ponyville was in trouble. After she slammed the front door shut, Twilight sprinted as fast as possible to the town square to confront the beast. A few seconds later, Twilight finally made it to the town square. "Alright! I'm here everyone! Where's the T-Rex?!" It didn't take long before Twilight could tell something was off. The town square looked completely fine. There was absolutely no sign of a dinosaur attack whatsoever. Instead, there was a large group of ponies occupying the town square which included Solana, Spike, her friends, Discord, Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and what seemed like every Ponyville resident. In the middle was a large object which was covered in a white sheet. At that moment Twilight realized she had been tricked. "I'm going back home," Twilight muttered as she began to turn around, but was quickly interrupted as her friends began to speak their plea.

"That's enough Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed, "This needs to stop now!"

"She's right," Rarity replied, "Laying in bed all day isn't going to solve anything."

"Come on sis. This isn't like you," Shining Armor muttered.

"Please!" Solana cried out, "I want my mom back! I can't stand seeing you cry anymore!"

"Twilight...there's no reason to be sulking and sad," Celestia stated, "Locking yourself inside your house, hiding from your friends and the ponies that care about you, that isn't going to help. You're only hurting yourself more by doing that." Suddenly, Twilight broke down in tears.

"It's just that...I miss him," Twilight muttered as tears ran down her face, "I miss him so much!"

"We all do," Rainbow Dash replied as she patted Twilight on the shoulder, "You're not the only one that misses Flareon."

"Thanks Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied as she wiped away the tears.

"That's why we built this to cheer you up mom!" Solana exclaimed as she signaled towards two pegasus ponies which lifted the white sheet and revealed what is was hiding. Twilight was rendered speechless as a large bronze statue of Flareon was standing before her. Under him the words 'Flareon: The Hero of Equestria. A great friend, a caring father, and a loving husband.' could be seen. Suddenly, Twilight once again began to cry as tears ran down her face. However, these were not tears of sadness, but instead of happiness. She couldn't believe that everyone did this just to cheer her up.

"Thank you," Twilight muttered, "Thank you so much! I love it!"

"Does that mean your back to normal?" Pinkie Pie eagerly asked.

"Yes Pinkie Pie...I'm back, "Twilight replied. Immediately, she was hugged by an ecstatic Pinkie Pie and was lifted off her hooves.

"This calls for a celebration!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she let go off Twilight and turned to face the crowd, "A party celebration! A really, really, really big one! We're going to celebrate Twilight being happy again!" As everyone began to cheer in response to Pinkie Pie's suggestion of a huge party, Twilight couldn't help but smile as Solana quickly ran over and hugged her. Solana couldn't be happier to see her mom back to her usual self. Even though Flareon was gone, Twilight wasn't going to let his death overcome her. She was going to keep on living for his sake and their daughter's sake. The will of fire would continue to burn on in everyone's hearts forever. Speaking of Flareon, the story of our hero wasn't quite over just yet. Meanwhile, in an unknown place, a pony was walking through a white void. That pony was none other than Flareon.

"Hello?" Flareon yelled, "Is anyone there?!" Once again, his voice just echoed throughout the white void. "What the heck is going on here? I've wandered this weird place for an hour and still hadn't found anyone. All I remember was right after I flew into Alexei's mouth and unleashed my attack, everything went black, and I woke up here. This can't be heaven...can it? I thought heaven would be a little more...lively. Suddenly, Flareon here a voice speak from behind him.

"Sorry about the wait Flareon," the voice said softly. As Flareon quickly turned around, he was standing in front of a very familiar-looking female alicorn.

"Who are you?" Flareon asked. At that moment, Flareon began to remember when he meet her before. "Wait...I remember you! You're name is Infinity. I met you during that dream I had a couple of years ago, right after Alexei knocked me out." In response, Infinity smiled at him.

"I'm so glad you remembered me," Infinity replied, "First off...let me say congratulations for defeating the dragon of darkness. I knew you could do it!"

"You're not here to just to congratulate me for defeating Alexei...are you?" Flareon asked.

"No," Infinity replied, "I'm here to finally tell you the truth about how you came to awaken as a pony in Equestria."

"Before that...who are you?" Flareon asked.

"My name is Infinity, the goddess of time and space. I am also the creator the of the MLP world," Infinity said. "Since I have no real form, I take the shape of an alicorn to be able to speak with you."

"Ok, so tell me...how did I become a pony?" Flareon asked.

"I brought your soul over from the human world, made a pony body for you, fitted your soul into it, and put you inside the MLP world. All while you were still asleep. You see...your human body is still alive and well. It is just suspended in time. During all the years you've been in the MLP world, time has not moved even one second in the human world," Infinity replied. Flareon was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't believe it. His human body was still alive?

"Why me though?" Flareon asked, "There are about 6 billion humans living on Earth. Why did you choose me? No offense, but I'm pretty sure there are more noble and graceful people who would be better suited for the role of a chosen one."

"You may be right for that reason alone, but you possessed something more powerful than anyone else did. The will of fire," Infinity replied.

"What is the will of fire?" Flareon asked.

"The will of fire is what gives someone the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building willpower and strength of character. Compared to other humans, your will of fire was the strongest of all. That is why I choose you," Infinity proudly stated. Flareon looked around puzzled.

"Where are we?" Flareon asked.

"This place is a rift in time and space between the Human world and the MLP world. I created this place and brought you here after you heroically sacrificed yourself to defeat Alexei," Infinity replied, "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"So what happens now?" Flareon asked.

"Now...I will give you two choices," Infinity replied as two wooden doors appeared behind her, "The door on the left will allow you to go back to the human world. After you enter, you will go back to the point in time where I took you from, when you were sleeping. However, you will not remember what happened in the MLP world. All the memories of your time in Equestria will be gone. The door on the right will allow to go back to the MLP world. So...Daniel, what is your choice?" Flareon closed his eyes, smiled, and then looked at Infinity seriously. There was not a single doubt in Flareon's mind on what he wanted to do.

"I want to go back to...Equestria!" Flareon yelled, "I want to go back to my friends, my daughter, and my wife. Even though I hated it there at first, what can I say...those crazy ponies have grown on me." Infinity simply smiled in response to Flareon's answer. It was as if she knew what he was going to say.

"Very well Flareon...I mean Daniel," Infinity replied as the door on the left disappeared and the door on the right opened up, revealing what looked like the town square of Ponyville. Flareon could see Twilight and everyone inside, "Good luck and once again...thank you." At that moment, Infinity vanished which left Flareon face-to-face with the door back to the Equestria.

"Hang on everyone!" Flareon yelled as he charged into the door, "I'm coming back!" Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Twilight was beginning to leave with everyone to Apple Acres, where Applejack agreed to host the party for Twilight. Suddenly, the space before Flareon's statue began to glow bright white. Before they had time to figure out what was going on, a pony walked out of the portal, which soon closed behind him. They couldn't believe their eyes as it was almost too impossible to be true. The pony standing in front of them was Flareon. "Hey guys!" he said to a star struck crowd, "Did you miss me?" In a split second, Flareon was knocked back by two ponies into a hard surface. It was Twilight and Solana. They were both crying uncontrollably. It took about five minutes before they were able to speak.

"Flareon," Twilight muttered as she held him closer to her, "I can't believe it...this is a miracle!"

"Dad!" Solana exclaimed as Flareon patted her head softly, "You're back! You're back! You're back!" It didn't take long before they were completely surrounded by everyone. Soon after, Rainbow Dash and the others walked up to them.

"It's good to have my rival back," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well I'll be, I don't know what to say. So in the words of Rainbow Dash, this is just...awesome!" Rarity exclaimed. Next, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor and Cadance came forward.

"Flareon...thank goodness you returned!" Celestia exclaimed.

"Hey Flareon! Nice to see you came back," Shining Armor said.

"I couldn't be happier to know that the your family is finally back together again," Cadance replied.

"Shining Armor! Cadance! Long time, no see," Flareon said.

"That's Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to you!" Shining Armor replied as he smiled along with Cadance. Flareon thought they he just joking around with the prince and princess thing and didn't reply back. Suddenly, someone very familiar appeared before him. However, this was not someone Flareon wanted to see. It was none other than the mater of chaos and mischief himself, Discord. Before he was able to speak one word, Flareon quickly tackled him to the ground and began to charge up his fire magic.

"I don't know how you escaped from your seal, but I'm going to finish you off once and for all!" Flareon yelled. Unfortunately, Flareon wasn't able to deliver the devastating blow as he was quickly pulled off Discord by Twilight and his friends.

"No Flareon!" Twilight yelled, "Discord is a good guy now! Don't hurt him!" Flareon couldn't believe what he was hearing. Discord...a good guy? What the heck was going on? Was this some sort of joke?

"I'm gone for one hour and you're telling me Discord is a good guy now?!" Flareon exclaimed, "Have you all gone completely insane? For some reason, everyone burst out laughing. It couldn't be true that they all went insane...could it? "What the heck is going on around here. What's so funny?" At that moment, Flareon began to furiously look around at his body. "Don't tell me I became Flarena again!" Luckily for him, that was not the cause of the laughter. Twilight put her right hoof softly on Flareon's shoulder and smiled.

"Flareon...it hasn't been an hour," Twilight replied, "It's been a full year." Flareon's eyes widened in shock in response. Now he had heard of everything.

"Seriously?! An entire year has passed?" Flareon exclaimed, "Wow...I guess time in that void went by slower than here because I was only wandering inside there for just one hour."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, "What is this void and how come you said it has only been an hour? Where have you been this whole time?" Soon after, Flareon began to tell everyone about Infinity, the white void, the link between this world and the human world, as well as everything to do with him becoming a pony. As expected, everyone was shocked and astounded. Unfortunately, it was now Flareon's turn for his mind to be blown as Twilight began to tell him what happened in Equestria while he was gone from Shining Armor and Cadance getting married and becoming a prince and princess, the return of the Crystal Empire, their battle against King Sombra, Fluttershy's success at reforming Discord, and Twilight's fierce duel with Trixie. After she was done talking, it took Flareon quite a while to take all this in.

"Wow...I sure missed out on a lot of exciting stuff," Flareon muttered. Just then, Solana's voice appeared from behind him.

"Hey dad! Look what we made!" Solana exclaimed. As Flareon turned around, he was met by himself in bronze form.

"What's this? A statue of me?" Flareon asked as he began to read the words written on it. After Flareon was done, he couldn't help but smile. "Wow! Thanks everyone, but didn't have to make this just for me."

"It wasn't for you," Applejack replied, "It was to cheer Twilight up. She really missed you ya' know?" Shortly after, Flareon learned of how Twilight had become depressed during the week leading up to the anniversary of his defeat of Alexei. In response, Flareon walked up to Twilight and kissed her, which resulted in everyone cheering loudly. At that moment, Pinkie Pie appeared eagerly before them with her eyes glowing in anticipation. Flareon was all too familiar with that look on her face. He didn't need a mind reader to find out what Pinkie Pie was thinking.

"Looks like we now have two reasons to have a party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "We're going to celebrate Flareon returning and Twilight being happy again! That means this party is going to be twice as big! Come on everyone! Let's go to Apple Acres and get this party started already!" As Pinkie Pie began to lead the large crowd to Apple Acres, Twilight turned around to face Flareon, who was once again staring at his statue.

"You coming Flareon?" Twilight asked. Flareon looked at her and smiled happily.

"Yeah...I'm coming," Flareon replied as he ran up to Twilight and walked together with her to Apple Acres. During this day, Ponyville had a lot to celebrate. Not only was it the anniversary of Flareon's defeat of the dragon of darkness, it was also for Twilight successfully breaking out of her depression. Last but not least, the chosen one had returned. A new chapter for Flareon's life in Equestria was off to a roaring start.


	2. Howl At The Sun

Chapter 2  
Howl At The Sun

All of Flareon's friends, including his wife, had their own pets. Twilight had Owlowiscious, Rainbow Dash had Tank, Fluttershy had Angel, Applejack had Winona, Rarity had Opalescence, and Pinkie Pie had Gummy. Flareon was how you would say pet-less, but that suited him just fine. Even though Fluttershy insisted Flareon take one of her animals home to keep as a pet, he refused her offer. When Twilight asked why he didn't want his own pet, Flareon told her he didn't want that extra responsibility around the house. However, that all changed during one carefree morning in Ponyville. Flareon was at Ben's Breakfast and was enjoying his favorite Blueberry Stuffed French Toast when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small wolf pup hiding behind a trash can. It was pure white and had these strange red markings on its body. It looked scared and hungry. Flareon got off his chair and brought his plate over to it. "Here you go little guy," Flareon said as he put the plate of food down in front of the wolf pup. It was hesitant to let Flareon approach him. "I'm full anyway, so you can have the leftovers." The wolf pup slowly moved towards the plate of food and sniffed it a couple of times. In response, the wolf pup barked happily at Flareon and quickly began to eat the food. Flareon decided to leave the wolf pup alone and turned around to go pay for his breakfast. Soon after, Flareon walked back home to Golden Oak Library. Just as he got to the front door, Flareon heard a familiar bark come from behind him and turned around to see the same wolf pup from before. Apparently, it had followed Flareon all the way back home. "Look little pup," Flareon said as he sighed deeply, "I can't take care of you, so go back to your home ok?" Unfortunately, the small wolf pup was completely oblivious to Flareon's words and continued to stair at him. Suddenly, the door opened up and Twilight appeared.

"Who are you talking to Flareon?" Twilight said as she walked up to him. When Twilight spotted the small wolf pup, she jumped back in surprise and gasped. "Oh my god! Is that...him?! Flareon! Do you know who that is?"

"Annoying?" Flareon replied sarcastically.

"No silly," Twilight said as she went back inside and ran over to a nearby bookshelf. After Twilight found the book she was looking for, she brought it over to Flareon and opened it. After a few flipped pages, Twilight stopped and began to read aloud.

"Chibiterasu is a celestial wolf puppy and the son of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. Not only does Chibiterasu have the ability to create fire, he also has miraculous healing abilities. Although he is still very young, Chibiterasu is willing to help all who need it," Twilight said. After she was done reading, Chibiterasu barked in response as if he understood Twilight. Before either of them were able to speak again, Solana and Spike appeared.

"Aww...he's so cute!" Solana said as she ran over and hugged Chibiterasu, "Can we keep him dad? Please?!"

"Come on Flareon," Twilight replied, "He really seems to like you." Unfortunately, Flareon didn't want anything to do with Chibiterasu.

"No," Flareon said in a very serious tone, "I don't care whose son this is, goddess or not. We aren't keeping him. That is final!" Even against complaints by Twilight, Solana, and Spike, Flareon decided to take Chibiterasu to Fluttershy's house. If there was anyone who could take care of him, it was Fluttershy. As Flareon got up to her front door, he knocked a couple of times and shortly after, Fluttershy appeared.

"Oh hi Flareon," Fluttershy said, "Do you need anything?" After Flareon showed her Chibiterasu and explained the situation to her, Fluttershy was more than happy to take care of him. "Of course I can take Chibiterasu in. The more animals, the merrier! Come with me little guy!" Fluttershy said as she signaled for Chibiterasu to follow her. However, he was reluctant to go with Fluttershy. Eventually, she was able to get Chiberatsu to go inside her house. As Fluttershy closed the door, Flareon let out a sigh of relief as he was finally rid off the small wolf pup. He then turned around and went back home. Little did Flareon know, this wasn't quite over just yet. The next morning, Flareon went downstairs and opened the door, only to find Chibiterasu sitting down before him. Shortly after, Fluttershy came running towards him, completely out of breath. Flareon had a feeling he knew what was going on.

"I'm sorry Flareon," Fluttershy muttered, "Right after I opened the front door, Chiberatsu suddenly sprinted outside. I quickly followed him all the way here. It's strange, but during the entire time yesterday, Chibiterasu kept staring at the door and wouldn't budge from his spot, no matter what I did. The poor little thing didn't even want to eat the food I gave him. Flareon...Chibiterasu likes you and wants to be your pet. Trust me, I know." In response, Chibiterasu let out a small bark directly towards him.

"She's right you know," Twilight said as she smiled and walked over to him. Unfortunately, Flareon had just about enough. This was the final straw.

"For the last time...no!" Flareon yelled at Chibiterasu, "I don't want a pet! Go away and leave me alone!" In response, the small wolf pup's ears dropped down in disappointment. It then turned around and away. Flareon quickly noticed the angry looks on Twilight and Fluttershy's faces.

"That wasn't very nice," Fluttershy muttered.

"Flareon! How could you!" Twilight exclaimed, "All Chiberatsu wants is to be your pet and you just told him to go away and hurt his feelings. What the heck is wrong with you? How come you don't want your own pet?" Flareon looked down at the ground and sighed deeply.

"Back when I was a human, I had this dog named Rover, who looked almost exactly like Chibiterasu. Rover was the best friend I ever had. Me and him were as close as a human and dog could be. One day, while I was helping my dad fix his truck, Rover managed to get outside and chased this squirrel across the street. A car happened to be driving down the street. It hit Rover head-on. I quickly grabbed him and we rushed Rover to the hospital as fast as possible. A few hours later, Rover passed away. From that day on, I always refused to have another pet," Flareon said. Twilight and Fluttershy were left speechless by his story. Suddenly, Flareon felt Twilight put her hoof softly on his shoulder.

"I know it must have been hard, but Chibiterasu loves you. He wants to be your pet. This may sound strange, but I think Amaterasu sent Chibiterasu here for a reason. If Infinity is the goddess of time and space, she must know Amaterasu. I think Infinity and Amaterasu want you to take care of Chibiterasu," Twilight replied. Even though it was hard to believe at first, Twilight was right. Infinity must have been behind this. It may have been possible Infinity knew about Rover and she just wanted to help him. However, Flareon had more pressing matters at hand. A few seconds later, Flareon, Twilight, and Fluttershy split up and rushed to find where Chibiterasu went. Flareon would check the Everfree Forest, Twilight would check the Diamond Canyon, and Fluttershy would check the town. Later on, while desperately searching throughout Everfree Forest, Flareon suddenly heard a loud cry. He quickly headed to where the cry had come from. Soon after, Flareon spotted Chibiterasu surrounded by three angry wildcats. He was trying his best to fight them off, but since Chibiterasu was still very young, his fire magic was weak. Just as the wildcats were advancing on Chibiterasu, Flareon fired off a fireball, which landed right before the wildcats.

"If you three want to live, you will leave him alone and go away," Flareon said without hesitation. Seeing this as a losing battle, the three wildcats quickly fled. After they were gone, Flareon turned around, only to be tackled by an ecstatic Chibiterasu. He happily began to lick Flareon's face. "I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I hope you don't mind me for asking this, but would you like to be my pet?" Chibiterasu let out a bark in response. "Come on, let's go back home," Flareon said as he and Chibiterasu left the Everfree Forest. Later on, they returned home, and were met by Twilight, Solana, Spike, and Fluttershy.

"Hey everyone...I'm back with Chibiterasu," Flareon said.

"Does that mean we're keeping him?" Solana asked. As Flareon nodded his head, Solana let out a happy gasp as she sat down hugged Chibiterasu in her lap. They laughed as he licked Solana's face.

"For the record, I'm still the third most important member of this family," Spike proclaimed, "Chibiterasu is number four at best."

"What should we call him?" Twilight asked as she paid no attention at all to Spike.

"How about...Chibi?" Flareon suggested. Chibiterasu quickly barked happily as in agreement to the name. "Ok then...Chibi it is," Flareon said as he sat down by Chibi and petted him, "Welcome to our family little guy." As everyone was playing with Chibi, Flareon smiled and muttered, "Thank you Infinity." Flareon, Twilight, Solana, Spike, and Owlowiscious had proudly added Chibiterasu, the child of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, as a new member to their family.


	3. Ghost Cleaning

Chapter 3  
Ghost Cleaning

Every year there is that one time when everyone cleans out their house and gets rid of unnecessary junk. It's called Spring Cleaning. Even though it is a tiring and remedial chore, it needs to be done. It was Spring Cleaning time in Ponyville and everyone was busy at work cleaning out their houses. At Golden Oak Library, Solana and Spike were cleaning upstairs, Twilight was cleaning the main room, and Flareon was cleaning the basement. While digging through an old chest, Flareon found something interesting. It seemed to be a dusty book bound together with metal chains. After Flareon picked up the book, he brought it over to a nearby table and set it down. As a result, Flareon coughed as dust from the book flew into the air, but now he was able to read the book's title. It was called '101 Ghosts'. "Why was this book stuffed on the bottom of that chest and why is it wrapped together in chains?" Flareon muttered. As he spoke, Flareon felt a forbidden, ominous feeling coming from inside the book. Could it possible this book was cursed? Flareon decided to take it back upstairs to show Twilight what he found. "Hey Twilight! Come over here!" Flareon yelled as he set the book down on the coffee table, "I found something!" A few seconds later, Twilight walked into the room from the kitchen.

"What's wrong Flareon?" Twilight asked as she walked over to him.

"I found this book on the bottom of a chest while I was cleaning out the basement," Flareon replied as he pointed towards the book, "For some weird reason, its locked together by chains. Have you ever seen this book before?"

"No," Twilight said as she shook her head, "I know about every book we have in this library and I've never seen that book before. For one, I would never leave a book forgotten inside a chest and two, I certainly would never locked it together with chains. That is so disrespectful!" As Twilight began to rant on about how books are sacred treasures and should be treated with uttermost respect, Flareon started to get a bad feeling. If Twilight had never seen this book before, then that meant it had to be owned by someone who lived in Golden Oak Library before Twilight did, but since Golden Oak Library was hundreds of years old, it was impossible to find out exactly who was the owner of 101 Ghosts. In the end, Flareon and Twilight agreed to open the book to learn more about it and see if there was a name or something that could give them a clue about who owned it, but first, they had to deal with the metal chains. Flareon quickly charged up his fire magic and easily melted a small section of the chains without damaging the book. After Flareon took off the chains, Twilight slowly opened up the book. No one could have predicted what happened next. Just as Twilight had opened the book, it immediately began to glow and a second later, pure white pony ghosts erupted from inside the book and flew into the air. Flareon and Twilight quickly ducked under the table as a ton of ghosts, 101 to be exact, flew around the room.

"We're free! We're finally free!" the ghosts yelled happily. Eventually, they flew through the walls and left the house. As Flareon and Twilight cautiously got out from under the table, Solana and Spike came running downstairs to see what all the commotion was about.

"What the heck was that?" Spike yelled, "Where did all that yelling come from?"

"Mom? Dad?" Solana asked, "Are you guys ok?" Flareon and Twilight were still speechless as they still couldn't believe what had happened. It turns out that the book called '101 Ghosts' actually contained 101 ghosts. Now it made sense why it was locked together by chains and hidden away. However, where the book came from was still unknown as there was nothing at all written inside it.

"I think we may have a huge problem on our hooves," Flareon said. Huge was an understatement as the ghosts had gone into town and were causing as much chaos and mischief as they could. Scaring ponies, throwing food, destroying property, etc. Discord would be proud. Eventually, Flareon and Twilight were able to find their friends and brought them back to Golden Oak Library to discuss on how to capture the ghosts that were going crazy all over Ponyville. After fifteen minutes of debating ideas, Flareon was struck by sudden inspiration thanks to a green plumber and three ghost capturing specialists.

"Ok everyone! Listen up!" Flareon yelled, "I have an idea! First off...I'm going to need seven leaf blowers and vacuums. I don't have time to explain! Just go get them and meet me in front of the garage." Soon after, their friends left the house and went to find some leaf blowers and vacuums. Later on, as planned, they brought them to the Flareon's garage where he was early waiting by Twilight for their arrival.

"We got the leaf blowers and vacuums Flareon," Applejack said as they set them down near him.

"Mind me asking what these are for?" Fluttershy asked. In response, Flareon smiled as he moved the leaf blowers and vacuums into the garage.

"You'll see in just a few minutes," Flareon replied, "Just wait here ok?" He then pulled down the garage door and quickly got to work. A couple of minutes later, the garage door opened back up and Flareon came out with an excited look on his face. "I present to you...the Super Ghost Buster!" Flareon exclaimed as he put down what looked like seven contraptions that were a combination of a leaf blower and vacuum cleaner on the ground before them. "This is how we're going to capture the ghosts and force them back into the book. These things have the power of a leaf blower along with the suction of a vacuum. No ghost will be able to resist these bad boys!" After Flareon showed everyone how to work the Super Ghost Busters, they quickly put them on their backs. "Ok everyone," Flareon said as he looked at the determined faces of Twilight and his friends, "Let's bust some ghosts!" Immediately, they headed into the ghost-infested town with the Super Ghost Busters. Seven ponies vs 101 ghosts, who would come out on top? An hour later, it was apparent that the ghosts had no answer for Flareon's invention. One by one, each of them were successfully capturing every ghosts they came in contact with. Later on, from beginning with 101 ghosts, there were now only 20 left. Just as Flareon and the others were advancing on them, the terrified ghosts suddenly flew into a single ghost. A few seconds later, 20 ghosts had become one huge ghost. As the pony ghost laughed manically, Flareon looked at the shocked faces of everyone.

"This doesn't change anything!" Flareon yelled, "We stick to the plan!" Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as Flareon had expected as the ghost was putting up a strong fight. No matter what they tried, the ghost kept managing to escape the suction power of the Super Ghost Busters. Not only was this ghost stronger, its massive bulk was proving difficult to suction on to and capture. Suddenly, the ghost went into rage mode and was easily able to knock Twilight and the others to the ground. Seeing an opening, Flareon quickly suctioned onto the tail of the ghost while he wasn't looking. Fearing for its life, the ghost tried to flee. Flareon dug his hooves into the ground and tried to keep the ghost from escaping.

"Hold on Flareon!" Twilight yelled as she grabbed onto Flareon's back. Rainbow Dash then grabbed onto her back, Fluttershy grabbed onto Rainbow Dash's back, and so on. It was now an endurance battle between seven ponies and one huge pony ghost. Thanks to the effort of Twilight and his friends, Flareon was able to hold on and successfully managed to capture the ghost. In response, they fell onto the ground and sighed deeply as the long struggle was finally over. The ponies who had watched them began to cheer loudly. Every single ghost was now located inside the seven Super Ghost Busters. Now all they had to do was put the ghosts back inside the book.

"The next time I find a book called '101 Whatever' locked together with chains on the bottom of a chest, it's staying there," Flareon muttered as everyone slowly nodded in agreement. "Let's go back to Golden Oak Library and put these bastards back where they came from. I'm exhausted." Later on, at Golden Oak Library, Flareon, Twilight, and the others were all pointing their Super Ghosts Busters directly at the open book. "On the count of three ok? One...two...three!" Flareon yelled as everyone activated their machines at the same time. In a blink of an eye, all 101 ghosts were forced back into the book. Immediately, they all ran over to the book and slammed it shut. Twilight then used her magic to fix the broken metal chains and re-wrapped '101 Ghosts' back together.

"I'm going to send this book to Princess Celestia with a letter," Twilight said, "It's best if this book is kept in a safe place." After she was done sending the book to Celestia, Rainbow Dash and the others decided to help Flareon and Twilight finish their Spring Cleaning. In the end, Flareon and Twilight finally finished cleaning out their house and that my friends is how a normal day of Spring Cleaning turned into Ghost Hunting.


	4. The Moon Is Beautiful Isn't It

Chapter 4  
The Moon Is Beautiful Isn't It

Ever since the fiasco years ago consisting of Twilight accusing Flareon of cheating on her after she saw him kiss Alice, a journalist from the Ponyville Chronicle, Flareon swore he would never allow himself to be caught in a similar situation like that ever again. Unfortunately for Flareon, his marriage bond with Twilight would once again be tested, this time by Princess Luna. It all began one afternoon in Canterlot Castle. Flareon had been asked by Princess Celestia to help Princess Luna with some important tasks that needed to be finished. However, these tasks took so long to finish that by the time they were done, it was already night.

"We're finally done," Flareon said as his body with aching all over, "I'm beat."

"Thank you for helping me Flareon," Luna replied, "My sister was right about you being really dependable. I'm impressed." Just as Flareon was saying goodbye to her, the chandelier above Luna suddenly came falling down.

"Look out!" Flareon yelled as he ran at her without hesitation and managed to push her out of the way just in time. "Luna? Luna! Are you ok?" Flareon exclaimed as he was trying to awaken an unconscious Luna. Luckily, she soon opened her eyes to see Flareon's face staring back at her. Suddenly, she began to blush as her heat beat furiously. Immediately, she tried to speak, but all that came out of her mouth was gibberish. You can tell the direction this is going can't you? That's right, Princess Luna had falling completely in love with Flareon. Whatever the reason, there was just something romantic about being saved from a falling chandelier. Eventually, Luna was able to regain her composure and watched in awe as Flareon used his magic to fix the broken chandelier. After replacing the rusty hook it had hung on, he lifted the chandelier back up to its original place. Even though she tried to find a way to force Flareon to stay a little longer, Luna could only watch helplessly as he said goodbye and started to return home.

"Flareon...I will make you mine. Oh yes...you will be mine" Luna muttered as she watched Flareon leave the castle. Little did Flareon know, tomorrow would consist of the most bizarre flirt attempts he would ever experience. The next morning, Flareon awoke from his sleep, went downstairs, and opened the front door. He was surprised to find Princess Luna was standing in front of him.

"Oh Princess Luna," Flareon said, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"You can just call me Luna. I don't mind," Luna replied as she giggled awkwardly and blushed. "Hey! How about we going to the bowling alley in town and play a couple of games?"

"Sorry Luna," Flareon said, "I actually have plans with my family today." Unfortunately, Luna wasn't about to give up quite yet.

"Oh I forgot! My sister asked for me and you to check out the Ponyville Bowling Alley for these suspicious ponies that are purposely cheating ponies out of their money. Come on! Let's go!" Luna yelled as she grabbed Flareon's hoof and pulled him along with her. Flareon decided that his plans would have to wait. He was sure Twilight and Solana would understand if this was an important task sent by Princess Celestia. After they got to the bowling alley, Flareon searched around the place for anything out of the ordinary when he heard Luna calling for him. "Flareon! Flareon! Come over here!" As Flareon rushed over to her, Luna forced a bowling ball into his hooves. "I got us three games!" Luna exclaimed as she smiled happily, "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Um...Luna? Aren't we supposed to be searching for the suspicious ponies?" Flareon asked.

"I already found those guys and handed them over to the Equestria Police while you were looking in the bar room," Luna replied, "Well...since we're already here. How about we have some fun?" She then moved closer to him as she began to blush, which forced Flareon to awkwardly take some steps back. Flareon was beginning to have an uneasy feeling about all this, but he decided it was just his imagination and took Luna's offer to play three games. Throughout the time they were bowling, Flareon was beginning to realize that Luna was acting weird. However, this weird was more like strange seductive weird. Luna kept blushing every time she looked at him, Luna purposely threw her ball into the gutters every time she got a lead on him, and Luna kept accidently putting her hoof on top of Flareon's hoof every time he went to pick up his ball. Two hours later, they finally finished their games. At that point, Flareon was ready to say goodbye to Luna and head back home. However, Luna wasn't ready for her time with Flareon to be over. Throughout the rest of the day, Luna kept bring Flareon along with her to the places like the ice skating rink, movie theater, park, and arcade. She said they had to do some important task for Princess Celestia, but every time Luna said she took care of it, even before they got there. Flareon was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that Luna was up to something and tried to talk to her, but she ended up dragging him to the amusement park. After she bought some tickets, an ecstatic Luna then brought him over to the Ferries Wheel. After they got inside a booth, the ride started to move again. At that point, Flareon decided he needed to have an explanation from Luna about why she was dragging him all over town for tasks that didn't really exist in the first place. As their booth made it all the way to the top and stopped, Flareon took a deep breath and turned to face Luna. Unfortunately, what happened next took Flareon by complete surprise. Just as he turned around, Flareon felt her lips touch his own. It took a while before Flareon realized what was going on and when he did, Flareon's eyes widened in shock as he broke contact with Luna and got back from her as far as possible. Luna was smiling and blushing at him. There was no way around it. Luna had kissed Flareon.

"Luna!" Flareon yelled as he tried to push Luna away from him as she was still trying to kiss him again, "What the heck are you doing?!"

"What else does it look like silly? I'm trying to kiss you!" Luna replied, "You're so adorable and hot when you're scared. I love it!" Now it all started to make sense. Princess Luna had been purposely taking him around town to these places just to spend time with him, not for the tasks Luna said Princess Celestia sent them on. It seems that Luna had fallen in love with him. Unfortunately, Flareon began to realize something he was overlooking. He was forgetting about what this meant for him and Twilight. If she found out he kissed Luna, Twilight would unleash her rage on him once again. Flareon knew from last time dealing with the Alice Dilemma that Twilight was a very jealous mare. Immediately, Flareon began to panic.

"Oh god! This can't be happening!" Flareon exclaimed, "Twilight is going to kill me! She is going to flat-out kill me!" He then turned to face Luna who didn't seem to fully understand the result of her actions. "Do you have an idea what you just did Luna?! I'm married to Twilight! I have a daughter for crying out loud! I can't be making out with you!"

"Flareon! I love you!" Luna replied, "I can't help it! There is just something about you that makes my heart flutter." She then slowly moved closer to him and smiled, "Now...where were we?" Unfortunately, the second kiss never came to pass as Flareon quickly jumped out of the booth and flew back home. No matter what, he couldn't let Twilight find out what happened. If she did, Flareon was sure to be sleeping at Applejack's house again. This time probably for an entire month. After he got back home, Flareon opened the door and rushed inside. He then quickly slammed the door shut. However, Flareon failed to notice that Twilight, Solana, and Spike were all present in the room.

"Oh Flareon...you're back. Where have you been? I thought we were all going to spend time together today?" Twilight asked, "Um...are you ok?"

"What?!" Flareon replied as he was fidgeting uncontrollably, "Oh yeah! I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! Nothing to be suspicious about!" As Flareon laughed awkwardly, they looked at him baffled, but decided it was best not to ask and just leave it at that. Later on, it was getting late, so everyone decided to go to sleep. Flareon couldn't be happier as he desperately wanted this day to finally end and forget it ever happened. As Flareon got into bed and laid near Twilight, it wasn't long before he fell into an uneasy sleep. Flareon began to dream about him driving with Twilight in his Mustang GT along a road that was near the ocean.

"Don't worry Twilight," Flareon said as Twilight was happily admiring the ocean view, "We'll be at the beach soon." A couple of minutes later, they finally reached their destination. After Flareon parked the car in the parking lot, he got out and opened up the trunk. Flareon and Twilight gathered the beach equipment and took it out to the beach which was completely empty. Not a single pony was in sight. After they set up everything, Flareon and Twilight laid down on their chairs.

"This is perfect Twilight!" Flareon exclaimed as he stretched out, "It's just me and you." Unfortunately, when he turned around, it was Princess Luna staring back at him.

"Hey Flareon," Luna said as she smiled, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Luna," Flareon muttered in a serious tone, "What are you doing here? More importantly...how did you get inside my dream?"

"I have the ability to enter the dream realm at will," Luna replied, "It's a special trait I inherited from my father."

"Where did Twilight go? Luna...bright back Twilight," Flareon said. Suddenly, the smile on Luna's face disappeared as she scuffed at him.

"Twilight...what's so great about her? What does she have that I don't?" Luna muttered.

"Well for one...she's not some crazy love-stalking pony that purposely lied to me the entire day and then followed me into my dreams!" Flareon cried out angrily. Unfortunately, Luna appeared to be paying no attention at all to Flareon as she just kept staring at him while she had that same mischievous smile on her face again.

"You're so hot when you're angry," Luna giggled.

"Ok...that's it!" Flareon yelled as he sat up, "I've had enough of this nonsense!" Ignoring Luna's plea, Flareon punched himself in the face. As a result, he was able to quickly wake up from his dream, which had turned to a total nightmare at that point. He then cautiously got out of bed, trying hard not to wake the others, especially Twilight, and walked slowly downstairs to the front door. After he closed it quietly behind him, Flareon flew into the air and headed for Canterlot to speak with Princess Luna. No matter what, Flareon had to force her to understand the situation between them. Later on, he managed to make it to the city and flew right towards the castle. He then asked a royal guard to get Princess Luna and for her to meet him by the uppermost balcony. A few minutes later, at the top balcony on the castle, Flareon saw Luna walking towards him. She actually wasn't that surprised to see Flareon there. Moreover, Luna was happy that he had come all the way to Canterlot just to talk to her in person.

"Oh Flareon," Luna said as she very much wanted this to happen, "I knew you couldn't resist! You sly dog!" Unfortunately, Flareon wasn't in such a happy mood like she was. He then signaled for her to come over to the balcony with him. Flareon then took a deep breath and exhaled out slowly. Flareon had to make sure he didn't screw this up.

"Luna...this needs to end now," Flareon said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked puzzled as if she didn't know already.

"This absurd love crush you have on me!" Flareon replied, "Look...you are a beautiful, amazing, elegant mare. Every stallion in the world wishes he could be in a relationship with you. There's no doubt about that. However, I'm already married. I have a daughter that I need to take care of. I just can't break the bond between me and Twilight. When I married her, I pledged my everlasting love to Twilight with all my heart. Luna, I'm sorry, but this is how I feel. I hope you can understand."

"I see," Luna muttered as she was clearly disappointed, "You really love her...don't you?"

"I do," Flareon replied as he smiled.

"Very well," Luna said as she walked to the balcony's edge, "I'm sorry for acting so rude. I didn't realize how much you loved Twilight. Can you please forgive me?"

"Of course," Flareon replied as he walked over and stood by Luna, "If this makes you feel any better...I've always thought you were the better princess compared to your sister." In response, Luna began to blush. Even she wasn't expecting such a nice compliment, especially one like that.

"Thank you," Luna said as she looked upwards at the starlit night sky where a full moon was shining brightly. "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Flareon then looked up at the night sky too.

"Yeah..it sure is," Flareon replied. Suddenly, Luna began to laugh as if Flareon had just said something funny. "Luna...what's wrong?" She quickly tried to regain her composure.

"Nothing," Luna muttered as she slowly put her head on Flareon's shoulder. He decided it just his imagination and continued to enjoy the view of stars and moon with Princess Luna. Once again, Flareon's marriage bond with Twilight had been thoroughly tested and just like before, it had become stronger as a result. No matter what, his love for Twilight would last forever.


	5. Grow Up

Chapter 5  
Grow Up

There is nothing more annoying when you're a kid than being told that you're not old enough. Every kid wishes they could become older right away to do things they couldn't do as a kid. The same thing applied to applied to Solana, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They just couldn't stand hearing the wait till you're older excuse any longer. Solana was trying to help her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders get their cutie marks, but they constantly ran into road blocks because they were trying to do things that were too dangerous for their age such as bull wrestling, fire torch juggling, and demolition experts. Once again, after school ended, Solana and her friends went to their secret Cutie Mark Crusaders headquarters, the tree house. As usual, they began to brainstorm ideas, but the discussion this time was about their age. "I'm so sick of being told I'm too young to do this or that," Sweet Belle said, "You're not old enough, wait till you're older, you're too young."

"Tell me about it," Scootaloo replied, "Not only do we not have our cutie marks yet, we're still being treated like little kids."

"I wish there was somehow a way we all could become mares," Apple Bloom muttered as she continued to roll a pencil across her desk. Suddenly, Solana was struck by an idea as she quickly snapped out of her bored trance and sat up straight in her chair.

"Well...we could make a potion to become older," Solana suggested, "That way it would be easier for you to get your cutie marks. Not to mention, it would be easier to for me to help you too!"

"That's a great idea Solana, but who do we know that is a potion expert?" Apple Bloom replied. It didn't take long before everyone thought of the same pony, or more precisely a zebra, in their minds simultaneously.

"Zecora!" everyone shouted out. They quickly left the tree house and made haste for the Everfree Forest. Later on at Zecora's hut, they were trying to convince Zecora to make an aging potion for them, but she wouldn't budge. Not even an inch.

"I'm sorry my little ponies," Zecora said against the wishes of the four Cutie Mark Crusaders, "No means no. If becoming older is your desire, you must wait your turn and you will become wiser." She then said goodbye to them and went back insider her house. Seeing that convincing Zecora was a lost cause, they began to head back to their trees house. About ten seconds later, Scootaloo stopped in her tracks.

"Come on girls!" Scootaloo exclaimed as the others stopped too, "We can't give up yet! I say we wait till Zecora leaves her house so that we can make the aging potion ourselves. How hard can it be? All we have to do if find the book containing the potion and then just follow the instructions. No problem!" After the others agreed with Scootaloo's plan, they went back to Zecora's hut and hid behind some bushes. It wasn't long before they spotted Zecora leaving her house and going into the Everfree Forest. This was their best chance. It was now or never. They quickly ran towards her hut, went inside, and closed the boor behind them. Immediately, they searched the bookshelf. Not long after, they managed to find the book they were looking for called 'Age Adjustments'. Solana then flipped through the pages and found the instructions for the aging potion. Solana began to read them while the other three gathered the ingredients and did as she said. After Sweetie Belle added the final ingredient, the potion began to glow bright red, just as it described in the book. Solana then emptied the potion into four separate flasks and they each took one.

"Well...here goes nothing," Apple Bloom said as they drank the potion in one gulp. After they set down their flasks, they looked at each other to see if any of them had become older, but unfortunately, nothing had changed.

"Did we do something wrong?" Scootaloo said as Solana read through the book again to see if she missed anything important.

"No...I'm pretty sure we did everything right," Solana replied as she closed the book, "It might have been the ingredients we used. Maybe they were outdated or something."

"Oh well...at least we tried," Sweetie Belle sighed disappointingly, "Let's get this place cleaned up and leave before Zecora comes back." As the others nodded their heads in agreement, they put back everything just like before so that Zecora wouldn't notice. After Solana and the others left the hut, they said goodbye to each other and returned home. As the day passed by and night came to be, Solana decided to go to bed early. After she said goodnight to Flareon, Twilight, and Spike, Solana went upstairs, got into her bed, and quickly fell asleep. The next morning, the sun had finally rose, signaling another day in Ponyville. Solana woke up and rubbed her eyes as she slowly got out of bed. She then walked over to the dresser mirror and prepared to comb her mane, but when Solana saw her reflection, she jumped back. Solana couldn't believe her eyes. She had become a full-grown mare. The aging potion was a complete success.

"Oh my god!" Solana exclaimed as she continued to admire herself in the mirror, "The potion worked! It actually worked! I'm a mare now!" Due to the racket Solana was making, she accidently woke up Flareon.

"Solana...what's with all the noise? It's too early for this," Flareon replied as he yawned, but when Flareon looked at his daughter, he was absolutely baffled. In response, he quickly nudged Twilight and woke her up. "Twilight...you need to see this." When she looked at Solana, Twilight was just as dumbfounded as Flareon was. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to say a single word. Twilight just stared blankly at Solana. When Spike awoke, he laughed at Flareon and Twilight's faces.

"What's with you two? It's almost like you've seen a ghost!" Spike chucked, but when he saw Solana, his face resembled that of someone who saw an actual ghost. After seeing the reactions from her parents and Spike, Solana had to think of an excuse for a filly becoming a mare overnight. If Flareon and Twilight found out what actually happened, Solana would most likely be grounded.

"Oh...it looks like I got my growth spurt early. It's a miracle!" Solana said as she smiled awkwardly. No one was able to respond. "Um...I'm late for school. Bye!" Ignoring the awkward silence hanging around in the air, Solana ran downstairs to the front door and went outside. "I wonder what happened to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo," Solana said as she dashed to the schoolhouse. Because of how much of a rush Solana was in, she failed to realize her wings had grown too. Solana could have flown is she had wanted, but you couldn't blame her for forgetting that. Just as she made it to school, Solana saw three familiar-looking mares. After closer inspection, those three mares were actually her friends. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo! I see the potion worked out for all of you as well!"

"Solana!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, "Wow...you look beautiful!"

"Isn't this awesome?!" Scootaloo said, "Look at my wings! I was even able to fly over here!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot I could fly now!" Solana replied as she looked at her own wings, "I was in such a rush it slipped my mind."

"Cheerilee and the others are going to be so surprised when they see us!" Sweetie Belle said as they burst out laughing. Soon after, they went inside the schoolhouse.

"Um...excuse me," Cheerilee said when saw Solana and her friends, "Can I help you four ladies with something?" It was almost impossible for them to hold back their laughter.

"It's us Cheerilee!" Solana replied, "Me, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo!" In response Cheerilee, including all the students, were absolutely stunned. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were rendered speechless. Solana and her friends walked to their desks and sat down, and even though it was hard to fit inside their small desks with their older bodies, but they didn't seem to mind much. They were having too much fun looking at everyone's faces. After Cheerilee was able to get over the initial shock at seeing how four of her students had suddenly became mares, she decided to finally begin another school day. When recess began Solana, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo completely dominated every single game they played against their fellow students. Then again, it was four full-grown mares competing against fillies and colts. It wasn't that much of a surprise when you think about it. Later on, the school bell ring signaling the end of the school day. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders went outside, they decided to spent the rest of the day doing the things they weren't able to do as fillies. Solana was now more determined than ever to help her friends get their cutie marks. A couple of hours later, after the most fun they had in their lives, even though Solana's friends didn't get their cutie marks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders called it a day and returned home. Still though, their families hadn't quite got used to their new changes. As night fell once again, Solana got into bed and fell soundly asleep. The next morning, school was closed for a holiday, so Solana didn't have to wake up early. Unfortunately, Solana would wish she would have got up sooner, because when Solana woke up and walked over to the mirror, she once again jumped back completely shocked at her own reflection. This time, Solana aged even more now to the point where she had become older than her parents.

"Uh oh," Solana said as she looked at herself in the mirror, "Did I become older again? That can't be right. The aging potion was only supposed to work once, not two times!" Unfortunately, Solana failed to notice that Flareon and Twilight were awake and listening to her every word.

"Solana," Twilight replied in a serious tone, "Did I just hear you say something about an aging potion?"

"I see now," Flareon said, "Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were hinting at that being the cause of your recent growth spurts. Solana...I'm disappointed in you. Trying to make yourself older just because you didn't like being a kid. There are no shortcuts in life. Taking the easy way out just proves you aren't ready for the responsibilities of an adult." Flareon and Twilight then got out of bed and walked over to Solana.

"Come on...we're going to meet up with your friends and then we're going to visit Zecora so that she can make a reverse aging potion to change all of you back to normal," Twilight said.

"Yes mom," Solana muttered as she followed after her parents. A couple of minutes later, they finally met up with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, along with her friends. Solana quickly noticed the same thing happened to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Sweetie Belle. They also had become older.

"Hey Flareon, Twilight," Applejack said, "Apple Bloom told me what happened. Let's go Zecora's hut. We can discuss their punishment after we change them back." After Flareon, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity agreed with Applejack, they took the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the Everfree Forest in search of Zecora. A few minutes later, while walking through the Everfree Forest, Flareon began to hear what sounded like arguing behind him.

"Come on Solana," Flareon said, "We're almost there. You four can argue later." However, when Flareon turned around, he couldn't believe his eyes. Solana and the others had grown ever older than before. Now they were senior citizens. They seemed to be having an argument about tapioca pudding and bingo. It was hard to tell.  
"Oh no!" Flareon yelled as Twilight and the others turned around and were as shocked as he was. "We need to get to Zecora's hut right away. They will turn into dust if they age one more time!" Immediately, they put the four elder ponies on their backs and hurried to Zecora as fast as possible. After they found Zecora's hut, Flareon quickly banged his hoof on her door. When Zecora opened it, she actually wasn't surprised to see them.

"I was wondering you would come back with those four trespassers," Zecora said as she lead them into her house.

"Wait...how did you know we would be coming?" Twilight asked.

"After I returned to my hut yesterday, I noticed that a book on my bookshelf was upside down. When I looked at what book it was, I knew right away those four must have entered my house after I left and used my potion ingredients to make an aging potion, "Zecora said as she began to pour a potion she made just made into some flasks, "The problem is they overlooked that the aging potion was only meant for stallions and mares, not colts and fillies. Their small bodies weren't able to handle the potion's effects and that is why they have continued to age. Luckily, I had this reverse aging potion ready for when they returned. Now then...let's turn these four back into fillies, shall we?" As Flareon and the others nodded their heads in agreement, they gathered the flasks filled with potion and forced Solana and her friends drink them. Soon after, they were engulfed in green smoke. As it dispersed, Flareon and the others let out a sigh of relief as the Cutie Mark Crusaders changed back to normal. Unfortunately, the four fillies weren't out of the clear just yet.

"Zecora, everyone...we're sorry," they said together with their heads held down. Seeing as Solana and her friends had learned their lesson, Flareon, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity decided not to punish them. They decided that turning into elders were punishment enough for them. From this point on, the Cutie Mark Crusaders promised that they would wait to get older, just not to elders. That was something they weren't looking forward to. 


	6. The Very Last Roundup

Chapter 6  
The Very Last Roundup

Ever since losing in the Equestria Rodeo in Canterlot, Applejack desperately wanted to have a second chance at taking home the gold. Luckily for her, she would soon get that opportunity when the Equestria Rodeo came to Ponyville. During the entire week leading up to the competition, Applejack trained day and night, trying to better prepare herself. Similar to last time, the rodeo competition would consist of three parts. Showing off lasso skill, an obstacle course, and hog tying. No matter what, losing again was not an option. As the day of the rodeo competition finally came, Applejack traveled with her family and friends to the newly built rodeo stadium. It wasn't long before they made it to the front gates where ponies had already begun to enter the stadium.

"Good luck sis!" Apple Bloom said as she hugged Applejack.

"Go show those amateurs who's the real Rodeo Queen!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Win or lose Applejack, remember...we will still be your friends," Twilight said, "Don't force us to come after you again ok?"

"Yeah, yeah...I know," Applejack replied, "I'll be fine. After all...I trained all week for this! I'm not going to lose again!" She then waved goodbye to everyone as she watched them enter the stadium along with the other ponies. After they disappeared into the crowd, Applejack went to the doors where the other competitors were waiting inside. After she closed the door behind her, Applejack saw the four other ponies that were competing in the rodeo. The biggest one of the four walked up to her and held out his hoof, which Applejack shook.

"The name's Buck little lady," he said with gusto, "I'm the one that will be winning this here rodeo."

"We'll see if you can back up that big talk cowboy," Applejack replied as she smirked.

"Oh I will be winning," Buck said he went over to the utility room and opened the door, "Thanks to my secret weapons." Inside the room were some automatic lassos and rubber hoof-shaped pads. It soon became apparent to Applejack that Buck was planning to cheat.

"You can't do that!" Applejack shouted angrily, "That's cheating!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Buck replied as he backed her into a wall, "Going to tell on me like a little baby snitch?" When Applejack didn't say anything, Buck laughed at her. "Tell you guys what," Buck said as he turned to face the others, "Since I'm such a nice guy, I will let you use my stuff so that you can cheat along with me. That way it will be a fair fight." Immediately, two ponies decided to take up Buck's offer. However, the other pony refused him.

"Sorry Buck, but you can keep those things to yourself. I will have no part in your twisted ideal of a fair fight," the pony said.

"Suite yourself," Buck replied, "Have fun losing!" As he laughed manically, the pony that refused Buck approached Applejack.

"Howdy," the pony said, "My name is Shooting Star, but you can call me Shooter. It's nice to meet you!"

"My name is Applejack," she replied, "I'm glad to see I'm not the only pony who still holds onto their dignity."

"I hear ya," Shooter said as they shook hooves, "Let's go out there and try our best!" As Applejack and Shooter agreed to a fair fight, Buck simply laughed at them. Soon after, a pony entered the room and announced that the rodeo was about to begin and left. The pony told them the first part would be the lasso skill competition, so Buck and the others picked his lassoes, which he explained were automatic lassoes that would allow them to easily pull off advanced tricks without breaking a sweat. Applejack and Shooter picked up regular lassoes and followed after them. As they exited through the door and into the stadium, Applejack was amazed at how big it was inside. The noise of the crowd cheering was almost defining. As they stopped in the middle of the stadium, an announcer with a microphone appeared before them and was able to finally silence the crowd.

"Welcome ponies of Ponyville to the annual Equestria Rodeo!" he exclaimed as the crowd cheered in response, "As usual, the rodeo competition will consist of three parts. First our fine competitors will show off their lasso skill, second they will run through an obstacle course, and third, they will do some old-fashioned hog tying! Each part will award our competitors will points. First place earns them 5 points, second place 4 points, third place 3 points, fourth place 2 points, and fifth place 1 point. Whoever had the most points at the end will win a gold metal and be crowned Rodeo Champion!" The pony paused so that the crowd could cheer again. "Now then...let's get this show started!" As he walked over to the judges table, an official signaled for one of them to come forward. It was Buck who decided to be the first one.

"Watch and learn," Buck said as he walked past Applejack and Shooter.

"First up for the lasso skill competition is Buck!" the announcer stated as the crowd cheered for him. Buck then pressed a small button on the bottom of his lasso and got to work. A few seconds later, Applejack and Shooter were amazed at the tricks Buck was able to pull off. What made matters worse was he was doing most of them with his eyes closed. It was a truly despicable sight. After the timer sounded signaling his turn was over, Buck walked back over to them as the crowd cheered loudly.

"Beat that!" Buck muttered in the ears of a stunned Applejack and Shooter. Ten minutes later, after the other two ponies that had used Buck's automatic lassoes finished their turns, Shooter decided to perform next. Overall, Shooter was able to put on an impressive display of lasso skill, though it failed in comparison to the other three before him. After he was done, Shooter walked over to Applejack and wished her luck. As Applejack prepared her lasso, she suddenly heard what sounded like Rainbow Dash's voice. Applejack quickly searched the crowd and was able to find her family and friends sitting in the front row on the east side of the stadium. A banner with the letters 'Go Applejack!' was written on it in colorful letters. She could see Rainbow Dash going absolutely crazy cheering for her. As a result, Applejack felt a huge surge of confidence as she quickly began to show off her lasso skills and all the hard work she put in for this moment. Shortly after, Applejack finished her turn and walked back to the others as the crowd cheered for her. Next up was the results.

"Wow! Now that is what I call some hardcore lasso skill!" the announcer exclaimed, "Now then...here are the results! The winner of the lasso competition is...Buck!" As the crowd cheered, Applejack and Shooter shook their heads in disgust. The announcer then told the rest of the results. In the end, Buck placed first, the two other ponies placed second and third, while Applejack and Shooter placed fourth and fifth. It couldn't have been more disastrous. "With Buck in the lead, the other four competitors will have to step up their game if they want to win! While they go to the break room to take a fifteen minute breather, we will have some rodeo clowns challenge a bull to a game of chicken." Soon after, Applejack, Shooter, Buck, and the other two ponies returned to the break room. They would need the rest for the next competition, the obstacle course. A couple of minutes later, Buck and the other two ponies put these slick rubber pads on their hooves. This would allow them to run faster and jump higher. Applejack and Shooter didn't even bother to look at them. After their break was over, they went back into the stadium. The announcer then told everyone the rules for the obstacle course. The competitors had to run as fast as possible in one lap while jumping over the slalom gates. It they accidently knocked over a gate, they would be charge with a time penalty. Similar to before, Buck was the first one to go, and go he did. It was a sight to behold as he was like a speeding bullet running through the course and easily jumping over every gate. Buck finished with a time of 37 seconds, a new record. After Buck was done, the other two ponies took their turns and finished with times of 42 and 50 seconds. Next up was Shooter and he managed to finish with a time of 59 seconds. It was finally Applejack's turn as the walked over to the starting line and began to run. Applejack was doing great, that is until the last slalom gate where she missed her jump mark slightly, but that was a big enough mistake as Applejack knocked over the gate. She finished with a time of 55 seconds, but with the added 5 second penalty, Applejack ended up with 1 minute and finished last. After two competitions, Buck was in the lead with 10 points, the other two ponies were tied in second with 7 points, while Applejack and Shooter were tied in third place with 3 points. After the announcer was done talking, the competitors were back to their room for another break. Applejack was completely decimated and Buck's smug gloating wasn't helping.

"Don't pay any attention to that jerk," Shooter said as he patted Applejack on her back, "Let's go back out there and try out best!"

"What's the point?" Applejack muttered, "We can't beat them when they keep cheating. It's pointless."

"You're telling me you're just going to give up? Come on Applejack, I've been watching you out there this entire time. I know your competitive spirit is something that can't be stopped, even though your competitors aren't playing fair," Shooter replied. Suddenly, Applejack began to smile.

"You're right," Applejack said as she pumped yourself up, "It's not over yet!"

"What...are you two celebrating winning last place?" Buck chuckled as he appeared behind them, "I'm surprised you guys haven't just quit already. Thanks to our automatic lassoes, there's no way you can beat us!" Before they could respond to him, the bell sounded signaling that their break was over. It was now time for the last part of the rodeo. After they went back into the stadium to the cheering crowd, the announcer began to tell them the rules for the hog tying competition. They had to use their lassoes to successfully tie up a wild hog as quickly as possible. Whoever got the fastest time won. Once again, Buck went first. After the hog was released, Buck pressed the button on his automatic lasso and chased after the hog. He managed to tie it up in just 12 seconds, a new record. After him, the two others ponies with automatic lassoes took their turns. The first pony tied up their hog in 21 seconds, while the second pony did it in 30 seconds, partly because he accidently tied himself up instead of the hog with his lasso during his first attempt. Shooter went up next and managed to tie up his hog in 23 seconds. After Shooter walked back, he wished Applejack luck as she walked past him. Applejack was now more determined then ever to prove herself. After her hog was released, she gripped tightly on her lasso and chased quickly chased after it. In a blink of an eye, Applejack had somehow managed to tie up the hog in ten seconds flat, a new record. Buck was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that Applejack was able to beat him. She then walked back to an ecstatic Shooter who immediately began to congratulate her.

"Now that is what I call amazing!" the announcer exclaimed as the crowd cheered in response, "Let's give it up for our five competitors for putting on a fantastic rodeo show!" He then paused to let the crowd cheer again. "Now...for the moment you have all been waiting for! Here are the final results! The pony who finished in first place with a grand total of 14 points is...Buck!" As the crowd cheered his name, Shooter looked at Applejack expecting her to be depressed, but he was relieved to see that Applejack with still in good spirits.

"It's ok Shooter," Applejack said as she reassured him, "I tried my best and that's what really matters. That cheater can keep his tainted medal and title. I could care less." The announcer then told everyone the rest of the results. In the end, Buck took first place, while Applejack tied for third place with another pony, and Shooter finished in fourth place. As officials were preparing to put the gold medal on Buck's neck, Shooter suddenly walked forward.

"Sorry guys," Shooter said as he walked up to them, "I'll take in from here."

"What the heck do you want Shooting Star?" Buck angrily replied, "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"It's not Shooting Star," Shooter said as he put flashed something directly in the face of Buck. It was a police officer badge. "My name's Rawhide and I'm an undercover cop from the Equestria Police. Buck...I hereby place you under arrest for multiple cases of cheating."

"Wait...what's going on here?" the announcer exclaimed as he put his microphone up to Rawhide, "Would you mind explaining for everyone?"

"Certainly," Rawhide replied, "You see...I'm a cop from the Equestria Police that went undercover with the alias Shooting Star to enter the Equestria Rodeo in Ponyville. There has been suspicious reports of cheating happening in the Equestria Rodeo lately and I was sent here to find one of the ponies responsible. Buck is actually part of a group of ponies that purposely cheat in order to finish in first place and win gold medals. Later on, they sell these gold medals for a large amount of money on the black market. Not to mention, they get ponies to join their group after they allow them to cheat too. Automatic lassoes and slick rubber hoof pads are the usual tools they have being using as an unfair advantage. Buck and the other two ponies here have cheated during this entire competition and that is why they are all disqualified and permanently banned from entering the Equestria Rodeo. I'm proud to announce that Applejack here is the real winner of this competition." He then turned to a baffled Applejack and smiled. "Congratulations Applejack." As the officials began to put the gold medal around her neck, Buck was seething with rage and began to charge angrily at Rawhide, but after some swift executions, he was able to successfully subdue Buck. Rawhide then go out his hoofcuffs and put them on Buck. Soon after, some officers from the Equestria Police arrived and put Buck, along with his equipment, inside their wagon and quickly took him away to the station for questioning. Before Rawhide left with them, he once again congratulated Applejack on winning the Equestria Rodeo, and told her he hoped to see her compete in the next one.

"Let's give it up for Applejack...the winner of the Equestria Rodeo!" the announcer exclaimed. As the crowd began to cheer her name, Applejack could see her family and friends going absolutely ballistic. She knew right away from seeing the look on Pinkie Pie's face that they were going to have a big party later. After Applejack looked down, she admired her gold meal that had the letters 'Rodeo Champion' written on it. She then looked back up and waved to the crowd. All of Applejack's hard work she put in throughout the entire week had finally paid off.


	7. Unneeded Possession

Chapter 7  
Unneeded Possession

They say possession is nine-tenths of the law. However, does that law still stand if you're being possessed by an animal that can enter your body at will? I don't know, maybe? Whatever the case, being possessed is something that you definitely need to take care of and fast. It's a good idea to have the number for an exorcist just in case. That is something one pony would have loved to know before they almost ate all the food in Ponyville after being possessed by a devious Werehog. It all began one dark night in Ponyville. Flareon, Twilight, and his friends were walking through the Everfree Forest back home after they had visited Zecora. Flareon was using his horn like a torch to lit the way so they could see. Suddenly, a strange-looking hog with ragged fur appeared before them. At first they thought nothing out it, that is until, Fluttershy began to panic.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy cried out as she began to slowly back away from the wild boar, "This isn't good."

"What's wrong Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

"That animal is a Werehog," she replied while trying her best not to agitate it, "It has the ability to become transparent like a ghost and can enter your body at will and possess you! The problem is you may not even know your being possessed. I hear they have very big appetites. Whatever you do...don't let it out of your sight!"

"Don't worry Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said confidently, "There's no way he's going to get past all seven of us!" Unfortunately, it turns out the Werehog had somehow managed to disappear from the spot he used to be at, even with seven ponies present. Immediately, they began to cautiously search for the missing Werehog. A few minutes later, as Flareon was walking backwards, he accidentally bumped into Fluttershy. As a result, she began to scream loudly, which startled Flareon and made him lose concentration with his magic. As his horn's light vanished, chaos erupted as everyone began to panic and scream in total darkness. Eventually, Flareon was able to get his concentration back and quickly brought back the light with his horn again. As they desperately looked around the area, the Werehog was still nowhere to be seen.

"You think it ran away? We did make a pretty big racket after all. Maybe it got scared and fled," Applejack said.

"I sure hope so," Fluttershy replied, "If by small chance the Werehog did possess one of us, there's no way of telling which of us is possessed right now."

"How about we agree on that whoever shows unusual signs, or in Pinkie Pie's case more than unusual signs, that is the pony who is possessed by the Werehog," Twilight said as the others agreed with her. "For now...let's get out of this forest before we run into something worse." Later on, everyone eventually made it out of the Everfree Forest and returned home to go to sleep. The next morning at Golden Oak Library, Flareon and his family awoke to another day in Ponyville. After they had breakfast, Solana headed off to school, while Flareon and Twilight went into town. Soon after, they saw a huge crowd of ponies standing around Sugarcube Corner. As Flareon and Twilight made their way through the crowd, their jaws dropped. Sugarcube Corner had been completely ransacked. Not a single piece of food was left behind. All the donuts, cakes, cookies, and pastries, everything, was gone. Flareon and Twilight rushed over to a devastated Mr. and Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"We don't know," Mrs. Cake replied, "Last night we heard someone break in, but when we went downstairs, they had vanished along with all our sweets. The weird part is...they didn't even bother to take anything for the cash register."

"That is definitely strange," Flareon said as he turned to Twilight, "You think it's possible that the Werehog possessed one of us yesterday and then used our body to eat all the food in Sugarcube Corner last night?"

"Maybe," Twilight replied uncertainly, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake...was Pinkie Pie with you when you checked for the culprit?"

"Yes, she was with us the entire time," Mr. Cake said, "Now...what's this about a Werehog?" After Twilight explained to them about the Werehog, they agreed to keep a watchful eye on Pinkie Pie, just in case. Luckily though, Flareon and Twilight didn't seem to find another disturbance in Ponyville. Hopefully, Sugarcube Corner would be the last one, but as it would soon turn out, that was not case. Later on, past midnight at Apple Acres, Applejack was sleeping soundly in her bed when she suddenly hear the animals making racket outside. After getting a flashlight, Applejack hurried downstairs and went outside to see what all the commotion was about.

"Who's there?!" Applejack yelled as she quickly used her flashlight to search around. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a half-eaten apple rolled across the ground and stopped right in front of her. As she looked down at the apple, Applejack saw out of the corner of her eye a dark silhouette dash from behind a barrel to inside the open barn. "Gotch ya you dastardly varmint!" As Applejack went inside the barn, she used her flashlight to look around, but didn't seem anything suspicious, just some farm animals. They seemed to be spooked by something. As Applejack was about to leave the barn, she suddenly felt something land hard on her back. As a result from the hit, Applejack dropped her flashlight. Eventually, she was able to get back up and quickly picked up the flashlight, but when Applejack looked around for whatever had knocked her over, she didn't see anything. Whoever, or whatever, it was had apparently ran away. Applejack then left the barn and searched the rest of Apple Acres, but still didn't find the intruder. Seeing as searching around anymore was pointless, Applejack went back inside and feel asleep. The next morning however, Applejack was able to see the resulting damage the trespasser has caused. They had somehow managed to eat every apple off all the tress that resided at Apple Acres in a single night. The only apple that was left behind was that half-eaten one. As the rest of her family tried to cope with the devastation, Applejack gathered her friends and told them what happened. There was no doubt about it. One of them had been possessed by the Werehog and it was using their body to eat not only all the sweets at Sugarcube Corner, but also all the apples at Apple Acres. The problem was they still didn't know who was possessed, but after some discussion, they were able to rule out Pinkie Pie and Applejack. That just left either Flareon, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or Rarity. Even though Rarity insisted she would never allow such an ugly, disgraceful beast possess her body, they still had to suspect her. Unfortunately, they still couldn't figure out who it was as every single night more and more incidents consisting of food theft had sprung up. It was getting so bad that Mayor Mare put up a state of emergency as Ponyville was in danger of running out of food. The good news was that they were finally getting close to figuring out who was possessed by the Werehog. It was now down to either Flareon or Twilight. After some discussion, Flareon and Twilight decided to keep a very close eye on each other to see which one showed signs of being possessed. Later on at night, Twilight turned in her bed and attempted to put her hoof around Flareon, but instead, it touched the blanket. Twilight opened her eyes and saw that Flareon wasn't in bed. She quickly sat up and looked around the room, but Flareon was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, she heard a faint sound coming from downstairs and decided to investigate. As Twilight walked down the steps, trying not to wake Solana and Spike, she heard the noises coming from the kitchen.

"Flareon...is that you?" Twilight said as she rubbed her tired eye. When she entered the kitchen, Twilight saw a dark figure ruffling through the open fridge, but when she got closer, Twilight eye's widened as she let out a silent scream. What was standing before her eating everything in the fridge was none other than Flareon. However, it was hard to tell it was actually Flareon as his body was completely covered in ragged fur and had boar tusks coming from his mouth. When Flareon spotted Twilight, he stopped eating and tried to shield his furry face with his hooves.

"Twilight! Don't look at me!" Flareon cried out in a rough voice. A few seconds later, Flareon looked up and saw Twilight sitting right by him.

"Don't worry Flareon," Twilight replied as she hugged him, "Let's go to see Zecora so she can make a potion to get that thing out of you." Out of nowhere, Flareon tried to attack Twilight, but thankfully, she managed to evade just in time.

"I'm sorry Twilight," Flareon muttered as he tried to apologized, "I'm not that in control of my body right now. The Werehog is still trying to completely take over me again. It won't be long before he does so let's to go Zecora now. I won't be able to forgive myself if I end up accidently hurting you." As Twilight gave him a reassuring smile, Flareon followed after her. Later on, in the Everfree Forest, Twilight and her friends were walking to Zecora's hut, while Applejack was pulling Flareon in a metal cage on wheels. The Werehog to this point had completely taken over Flareon's body and was trying his best to find a way to bust out of his metal prison.

"Come on girls," Flareon snickered, "Let me out. I promise I won't...eat you!" They were not paying any attention to him as it wouldn't be long before they had Flareon back to normal and Werehog-free. "All I want is to eat! That's it! If you don't let me out of here...you're going to regret it! I guarantee it!" Unfortunately for the him, Flareon's threats were having no effect whatsoever.

"Sorry Flareon, but we're not letting you out of that cage," Twilight firmly replied. Suddenly, she heard Pinkie Pie calling her name.

"Um...Twilight, he got out," Pinkie Pie said. Twilight quickly turned around and was shocked to see the cage with a gapping hole on the right side. It appeared that Flareon had somehow managed to tear his way through the metal bars. Immediately, everyone began to search around for their missing prisoner, when out of nowhere, Flareon appeared behind him. He had a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Here's Flareon!" he shouted out as everyone screamed and ran off in separate directions. Meanwhile, Twilight was trying to best to make it to Zecora's hut. She was desperately hoping the others were ok. Eventually, Twilight finally made it her destination and immediately began to knock on the door. As Zecora opened the door, Twilight came running inside. Even before she was able to catch her breath, Zecora thrust a blue potion into Twilight's hooves.

"Fluttershy told me to make this just in case one of you became possessed by the Werehog," Zecora said as Twilight put the potion in her bag, "All you have to do is make whoever got possessed to drink this potion and it will force the Werehog out of their body." After she thanked Zecora for her help, Twilight hurried back outside to find Flareon. A couple of minutes later, Twilight finally found Flareon, who quickly jumped at her. Twilight then used her magic to slam him to the ground.

"Sorry Flareon," Twilight said as she took the potion of out her bag, "This is for your own good." Even against Flareon's barrage of threats, she was able force the potion down his throat. Shortly after, the Werehog was ejected from Flareon's body. As a result, he turned back to normal. If that wasn't bad enough for the Werehog, it had begun to cough out blue smoke and soon disappeared. She then rushed over to Flareon who had lost consciousness after the Werehog left his body. As Twilight held his lead in her lap, he eventually opened his eyes and saw Twilight's relived face.

"Hey there," Twilight muttered, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah...a lot better now that you mention it," Flareon replied as he got back up, "Being possessed was beyond terrible. I hope I never see another Werehog in my life ever again." He looked around to see what happened to the others. "Where did everyone go? The last thing I remembered was getting into the cage and then everything went black." Before Twilight could respond, their friends appeared from behind some bushes. Best of all, they seemed to be completely unharmed. It turns out they had somehow managed to escape Flareon after everyone separated. As they began to celebrate having Flareon back to his usual Werehog-free self, he pleaded for them to leave the Everfree Forest as soon as possible before another wild animal with the ability to possess at will showed up.


	8. Big Top Blunders

Chapter 8  
Big Top Blunders

Since their last two missions were a complete success, Princess Celestia decided to send Flareon, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack along with her faithful dog Winona, on another one. This time to investigate a circus that is supposedly haunted by a ghost clown. As they were walking to the circus two ponies, one burly earth pony and one tiny pegasus, came running towards them. Both of them had scared looks on their faces. "What's the hurry?" Twilight asked.

"We're getting as far away as possible from that cursed circus!" the burly pony exclaimed.

"A word of warning. Whatever you guys do...don't go in there!" the tiny pegasus shouted, "Sorry, but we're in a bit of a rush...bye!" As the two ponies ran past them, Flareon and the others looked at each other concerned. Princess Celestia told them this would be their toughest mission yet. They had to be ready for anything. Eventually, they made it to the circus grounds where they meet with the manager, a unicorn named Barney.

"So...Princess Celestia sent you here to help solve this problem of mine," Barney said after they explained the details of their mission. "Normally, I wouldn't trust a bunch of kids with something dangerous like this, but my hooves are tied. It's up to you now...good luck." Soon after, they decided to search the circus for clues, but their progress is suddenly halted when Applejack realizes they are missing a key member of their group.

"Wait a moment," Applejack said as she looked around, "Where did Winona go?" Even though she had been with them the entire time, Winona had somehow disappeared. They decided to put the case on hold to look for Applejack's missing best friend. Flareon and Rarity searched around the costume tent while Twilight and Applejack checked the Big Top, where to their surprise, they found Winona way up balancing on the high wire and preforming an assortment of tricks as if she was in some sort of trance. "Winona!" Applejack yelled, "What in tarnation are you doing? Get down from there this instant girl!" Unfortunately, Winona seemed to be paying no attention to Applejack's pleas.

"Hold on Applejack...I'll get her back down," Twilight replied as she used her magic to lower Winona back down to them. When they looked in Winona's eyes, they had this strange blank stare.

"Winona! Winona! Winona!" Applejack cried out, "Please...snap out of it!" Thanks to her, Winona was able to snap out of the trance she was in, and immediately began to happily lick Applejack's face. "Thank goodness you're ok!"

"Come on Applejack, that ghost clown has be around here somewhere. He must have been the one who hypnotized Winona," Twilight said as they continued to search the rest of the Big Top. In the meantime, Flareon and Rarity witnessed the ghost clown enter the costume tent and decided to follow it inside.

"You go left and I'll go right," Flareon whispered to Rarity, "He could be anywhere so keep your eyes peeled." A few minutes later, as Flareon was shuffling through the contents of a closet, he suddenly felt something hit him hard on the back of his head. The resulting hit knocked Flareon out cold. The culprit was the ghost clown. Before Flareon was able to regain consciousness, the ghost clown slammed the closet door shut and quickly locked it.

"Hello? Flareon?" Rarity said as she quietly searched around the tent, "Where did you go?" Just as she turned around, Rarity found herself standing face-to-face with the ghost clown. He then held out a string with a gold coin in front of her and began to twirl it around.

"Watch the pretty coin of gold my dear and your deepest desire will appear," the ghost clown said with a mischievous smile. Eventually, Rarity succumbed to him and became hypnotized. Shortly after, back to Twilight, Applejack, and Winona, they were still searching the Big Top when something completely caught them by surprise. It was Rarity wearing a tutu and riding on a unicycle. If this situation wasn't so serious, they would have burst out in laughter. Before they could talk to her, Rarity rode out of the Big Top and directly into the animal tent. When they went inside, they saw Rarity riding on top of the elephants. Twilight then suggested she use her magic again to bring Rarity over to them so they could snap her out of the trance.

"Hold on Twilight," Applejack said as she picked up a bucket filled with water, "I have a better idea." She then brought it over to a nearby elephant. "If you would kindly please." The elephant nodded his head in agreement and then used its trunk to drain the bucket of water. After it was done, the elephant pointed its trunk at Rarity and released a torrent of water at her. The resulting force of the water knocked Rarity off her unicycle. Best of all, it also freed Rarity from the trance she had been in.

"What is going on?!" a confused and angry Rarity exclaimed, "Why am I wet and wearing this hideous tutu?"

"Rarity," Twilight replied while trying hard not to laugh, "You were in a trance and we had to wake you up. Um...what happened to Flareon?"

"We were checking inside the costume tent for that ghost clown," Rarity said as she quickly took off the tutu, "I heard some noise and went to check on Flareon when everything suddenly went black." They soon decided to head for the costume tent to find Flareon. A couple of minutes later, inside the costume tent, they found Flareon who was able to break free from the closet and after he woke up. Flareon explained to everyone what had happened.

"The most important thing is that ok," Twilight said, "The problem we have is catching that tricky ghost clown."

"Leave that to me," Flareon replied as he begun to tell them his plan. Later on, near a large animal cage, Flareon explained the plan to them once again. "Ok...so this cage has two doors. The one on the back can be closed with a rope. We need someone to be chased by the ghost clown into the cage, they run inside and out the back door, and then we have the ghost clown captured. Let's see...we need the fastest runner to be the bait, so that means it has to be Winona." In response, a reluctant Winona put on a performance worthy of an acting award, but thankfully, Applejack agreed to go along with her. As Flareon, Twilight, and Rarity got the trap ready, Applejack and Winona left in search of the ghost clown. However, things wouldn't be that easy. Just a Applejack turned around after checking behind a group of trashcans, the ghost clown appeared before her and immediately started twirling his gold coin in front of her face.

"I think you would make a great lion tamer little girl," the ghost clown chuckled as Applejack fell completely under his spell. Later on, Winona was desperately looking around for Applejack, when suddenly, she spotted Applejack inside a cage trying to tame a lion. The ghost clown was sitting in the stands and enjoying every minute of her performance.

"Ha! Is that the best you got!" Applejack yelled as she cracked her whip at the lion once more, "Bring it on!" Realizing Applejack was in danger, Winona ran towards the cage and began to bark loudly at her. Somehow, Winona's barking was able to snap Applejack out of her trance. "Winona?" Applejack muttered as she set down the whip, "Where am I?" When Applejack turned around, she saw the lion slowly approaching her. He didn't look happy. As quickly as possible, Applejack ran out of the cage and closed the door before the lion was able to attack her. Sadly for Applejack, she wasn't able to catcher her breath as she suddenly heard a voice coming from the stands.

"So...you two think you've won have you?!" the ghost clown exclaimed as he began to chase after them, "Not on my watch! Get back here!" A few minutes later, Applejack and Winona led the ghost clown into the cage as planned.

"Close the door! Do it now!" Applejack yelled as she and Winona escaped through the back entrance. Flareon and Twilight quickly closed both doors and were able to successfully capture the ghost clown. However, just as they were about to celebrate their victory, their heard a familiar voice. They looked up and saw the ghost clown standing atop a stand.

"You will never capture me!" the ghost clown exclaimed as he turned around and fled.

"I can't believe it," Flareon said, "I would have bet 100 gold coins we got him."

"Wait a moment," Applejack replied, "A gold coin...that's it!" She then turned to Winona. "Come on girl...we're going after him again. I have an idea!" After she told the others her plan, Applejack and Winona left in search of the ghost clown. Shortly after, as expected, the ghost clown appeared before them. He quickly pulled out his gold coin and once again attempted to hypnotize them, but this time, they were ready for him. Applejack and Winona put the mirrors that they were carrying in front of their faces. As a result, the ghost clown accidentally hypnotized himself to act like a cat. There was no way the ghost clown, or a ghost cat in his case, was getting away this time. Later on, inside the manager's tent, they had finally unmasked the ghost clown. He was an elderly earth pony.

"That pony is Pizzazz," Barney said, "He used to be a part of my circus until I caught him stealing money and fired him."

"Pizzazz must have wanted to get revenge on you," Twilight replied.

"As the ghost clown, he knew it would be easy to ruin your circus," Flareon said, "It was the perfect plan." He then picked up something off from the ground. It was an inflatable ghost clown. "Pizzazz sure had us fooled with this thing. That's why I thought we had captured him the first time, but he used this thing as a decoy to escape our trap."

"Thanks to your four...I mean five," Barney said after Winona barked at him, "You saved my circus! Now I will be able to reopen it by next week. I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia telling her of how you guys did an amazing job! As a reward, I'll grant you one full year of free admittance to my circus, including food and services. Consider it my treat for all your hard work." He then turned to his right and let out a sigh. "As for Pizzazz...I'll call for the Equestria Police to come and take him to jail." After saying their goodbyes to Barney, Flareon and the others decided to head back home. They promised Barney that they would definitely come back to his circus once it reopened.


	9. Justice Is Lazy

Chapter 9  
Justice Is Lazy

The sacred motto of the police is to protect and serve. Every police officer's duty is to keep the peace and enforce justice on those who seek to ruin it. Even with the sweet perks of being a member of the police force, with great power comes great responsibility. Sometimes people become accustomed and complacent when they don't know how to use it correctly or have it for too long. In the case of Flareon and Rainbow Dash, they succumbed to laziness after obtaining that power of authority when they joined the Equestria Police. It all began one peaceful afternoon in Ponyville. Flareon and Rainbow Dash were flying through town after playing some games at the arcade when a pegasus flew right past them. Before they had time to yell at him, another pegasus came flying past them, this time a police officer. It seems he was giving chase to the other pegasus. Without a moment's hesitation, Flareon and Rainbow Dash decided to help him catch the runaway criminal.

"Stop!" the officer yelled, "You're under arrest!" Unfortunately, the other pony wasn't listening as he was desperately trying to escape. After a flew well-timed maneuvers through some pony traffic, the pegasus was able to lose the police officer. Just as he was about to celebrate his victory, a tornado made of fire appeared before him, completely blocking his path. As he began to turn around to head the other way, Rainbow Dash tackled the pony and forced him to the ground. Flareon then flew over and helped her subdue the criminal. A few seconds later, the police officer came rushing towards them. After they got off him, the officer forced the pony into some hoofcuffs.

"This is officer Steel," he said into his headset, "I've successfully captured the guy who vandalized his ex-girlfriend's house. I need a wagon over to my location ASAP." After he was done, the officer turned to Flareon and Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks for the help. That was some slick teamwork," Steel said, "Hey...would you two be interested in joining the Equestria Police? We could always use some more police officers. Especially in Ponyville since a couple of ponies around here recently retired. The Police Academy is just a few minutes past the amusement park. Give it a thought ok?" Shortly after, a police wagon arrived. Steel with the help of the other officers put the pegasus inside and took him away. Once they disappeared from view, Flareon turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Well...how about it Rainbow Dash?" Flareon asked, "I've always wanted to be a member of the police force. Not to mention, the perks make it definitely worth it!"

"Sounds awesome," Rainbow Dash replied, "Ok count me in...let's go!" They quickly flew into the air and made haste for the Ponyville Police Academy. A month later, after countless days and hours of training, Flareon and Rainbow Dash were finally able to successfully pass all their tests. They were then led to Commissioner Siren's office. As they went inside and closed the door, the commissioner signaled them to come forward.

"Flareon and Rainbow Dash...congratulations!" Siren exclaimed as the he walked over and shook their hooves, "Never in this academy's history have we ever had ponies pass every test as well as you two did. I'm very glad to have both of you on the force." He then went back to his desk and gave them each a police uniform with a cap, a pair of hoofcuffs, a badge, and a headset. Flareon and Rainbow Dash quickly put their on uniforms and caps. It was almost like a dream come true. "Since you guys make such a great team together, I'm stationing you both in Ponyville." After they left the Police Academy, Flareon and Rainbow Dash rushed home to tell their families the good news. Soon after, Flareon made it to Golden Oak Library and quickly went inside to see Twilight, Solana, and Spike playing with Owlowiscious and Chibiterasu. "Hey everyone...check it out!" Flareon gleefully said as he showed everyone the badge on his chest, "Guess who just become an official police officer?"

"Wow dad...you're so cool!" Solana replied, "I can't wait to tell all my friends at school tomorrow!"

"I asked to join the Equestria Police once, but they wouldn't let me because they said I was too small and cute. Stupid jerks," Spike muttered with his arms crossed, "Anyway...congratulations Flareon." Twilight then walked over to Flareon and kissed him.

"Remember Flareon...don't let this go to your head ok? You tend to become complacent sometimes and being a police officer is a pretty big responsibility to uphold," Twilight said.

"Don't worry Twilight, I promise not to let this new power go to my head," Flareon replied. As much as Twilight wanted to believe him, she knew how similar he was to Rainbow Dash. Both of them could easily succumb to laziness and let their newfound authority go to their heads. Meanwhile in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash had visited her parents and was told by them exactly what Twilight had told Flareon, and similar to him, she told them not to worry. As the weeks went by, Flareon and Rainbow Dash continued to patrol Ponyville. It wasn't long before they became known as the most feared cop duo in town. Commissioner Siren was so impressed by Flareon and Rainbow Dash, he even awarded them both with an outstanding performance award. This continued on for three months. You could say things couldn't became any better than this. Unfortunately, as Twilight had feared, Flareon and Rainbow Dash were starting to let their success go straight to their heads. Fast forward to the present, Flareon and Rainbow Dash were continuing to let their performance slip. They started to come to work late, goof around, taking naps during their shift, and started to play pranks on their friends, including Spike when they placed him under arrest and took him down to the station where they pretended to interrogate him as if he was someone who just committed a serious crime. They eventually released him. However, their recent performance would be quickly put to the test when Commissioner Siren gathered all the officers into the main room downstairs at the Police Academy.

"Ok...listen up everyone," Siren said, "We have a very big event coming up. They are showing a new exhibit at the Ponyville Museum. A priceless rainbow-colored emerald called the Rainbow Emerald. Every criminal in Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and even Fillydelphia will be trying to steal it. That is why I want Flareon and Rainbow Dash for this job." He then turned to Flareon and Rainbow Dash who immediately snapped out of their daydream stance. "A thief could strike at any second so you two will have to keep watch the entire night."

"You can count on us sir!" Flareon and Rainbow Dash replied together. Later that day, the sun was beginning to set so they traveled to the museum and got into their positions.

"I'd like to see that thief get past us!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Flareon nodded his head in agreement.

"This will be a piece ok cake!" Flareon replied. The next morning, Flareon and Rainbow Dash were suddenly woken up by Commissioner Siren. He didn't look happy. It turns out they had accidently fallen asleep last night while on guard. Siren put his hoof on his head like he was having a headache and sighed deeply.

"Do you two have an idea what you guys just did?" he muttered, "While you were sleeping, a thief broke into the museum last night and stole the Rainbow Emerald."

"Don't worry commissioner! We'll go get that bastard right away!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she and Flareon flew into the air and attempted to find the jewel thief, but they didn't make it an inch off the ground before Siren stopped them with his hoof.

"That won't be necessary," Siren replied, "One of our officers in Fillydelphia were able to arrest him before he was able to sell off the Rainbow Emerald." Siren then sighed again after looking at their faces. "Come with me you two." Later that morning at the Police Academy, Commissioner Siren was sitting at his desk in front of Flareon and Rainbow Dash with a small stack of papers. "I've started to get complaints about both of you lately," Siren said as he shuffled through the papers, "Let's see...sleeping on the job, constantly goofing off, arriving at work late, and another complaint by a Mr. Spike saying that you falsely arrested him and interrogated him three hours straight for absolutely no reason." He then looked up at them very seriously. "Well...what do you two have to say for yourselves?" It seems there was no way of getting out of this one.

"I'm sorry," Flareon replied, "I hate to admit it, but I did sort of let all my recent success go to my head and took advantage of my position as a police officer. In other words, like Twilight said, I became complacent and lazy."

"I'm sorry too," Rainbow Dash muttered, "Everything in those reports are true. There's no excuse we can give to try to make up for our mistakes. That's why sir...me and Flareon are hereby resigning from the Equestria Police." They slowly took off their uniforms and placed them along with their caps, hoofcuffs, headsets, and badges on Commissioner Siren's desk.

"I'm going to miss both of you," Siren said, "You know what...I'll let you guys keep your badges." He picked the badges and tossed them to Flareon and Rainbow Dash. After they said their goodbyes to the commissioner, Flareon and Rainbow Dash left the Police Academy. Flareon looked down and admired the police badge in his hoof.

"Hey Rainbow Dash," Flareon said as he turned to her, "Wanna interrogate Spike again...for old times' sake?"

"You bet," Rainbow Dash replied as she smiled. They quickly flew into the air and headed for Golden Oak Library. Even though they weren't actually police officers anymore, Spike didn't need to know that. 


	10. Haunted Developments

Chapter 10  
Haunted Developments

If a dark spooky mansion on the outskirts of town don't scream haunted house, I don't know what does. Apparently, neither does Rarity. It was a dark, stormy, and cold afternoon. Rarity was walking with her friends down a beaten path to a mansion called Diamond Manor, which is located about 40 minutes away from Ponyville. Not long before, Rarity received a letter saying that her grandmother passed away. It her will it said that Rarity was given full ownership of Diamond Manor. Immediately, Rarity decided to check and see if she wanted to keep the mansion or sell it. Rarity then decided to take her friends along with her to stay a night at Diamond Manor. Eventually, they made it to the mansion to find out that it wasn't as warm and welcoming at they had hoped. Flareon quickly felt a chill run down his spine as Diamond Manor seem to be giving off this ominous aura. However, you wouldn't know that by seeing the eager and excited look on Rarity's face as she didn't hesitate a bit to enter her new house. After Rarity rang the doorbell, which sounded like death itself, the door suddenly opened and they went inside. After Applejack closed the door behind them, they began to admire the majestic décor.

"Welcome to Diamond Manor," a voice from out of nowhere said. In response, Fluttershy screamed, Spike grabbed on to Rarity, Flareon tripped over the umbrella holder, and Rainbow Dash jumped so high that she was now hanging tightly onto the chandelier above. After everyone regained their composure, they saw that the voice was actually owned by an elder unicorn. He soon introduced himself as Jeeves, the caretaker of Diamond Manor. The only pony who wasn't surprised to see him was Rarity.

"Ms. Rarity...it's good to see you have finally arrived with your friends," Jeeves said in a dull voice, "As you requested beforehand, I've already prepared dinner." He then signaled for everyone to follow him. "Please come with me to the dining room." Before they could go with Jeeves, Flareon noticed they were missing someone.

"Twilight? Where are you? Twilight?" Flareon asked when suddenly, she walked out from another room.

"Sorry about that," Twilight replied as she joined with them, "I was checking out the library. This place sure has some interesting books." Soon after, they followed Jeeves into the dining room. A few seconds later, they arrived in the dining room, which was as elegant as the rest of the mansion was. Another great big chandelier was hanging above the table as a delicious banquet of food was laid out for them. As everyone took their seats around the table, they quickly began to eat the food while Jeeves served as a waiter. After their bellies were full, Rarity picked up her glass.

"Here's a toast to my new beautiful house!" Rarity exclaimed as everyone held up their glasses together, but then the lights went out and everything went pitch black. Just as everyone was trying to figure out what happened, the lights came back on. However, Rarity was nowhere to be seen as her glass was laying on the table while the contents had spilled out onto the table cloth.

"Wait...what happened to Rarity?" Applejack asked.

"You don't think a ghost got her...do you?" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"We need to find her!" Spike yelled as he jumped on top of the table and picked up a wooden spoon, "Hold on Rarity! I'm coming to save you!" Just as they were about to get out of their chairs to search for Rarity with Spike, Twilight waved her right hoof nonchalantly.

"Oh please...everyone just calm down," Twilight said, "I sure Rarity just went to the bathroom or something. She'll be back soon or whatever." After they decided that Twilight was probably right, Jeeves lead them to the movie theater to watch a movie called 'Revenge of the Dark Riders'. Nearly 30 minutes later, the movie was refusing to let up on its suspenseful action. For some reason, Rarity still hadn't returned yet. Flareon then turned to Spike who was eating some popcorn.

"Hey Spike," Flareon whispered not taking his eyes away from the screen, "Can I have some?" Spike nodded his head yes and attempted to give Flareon the bucket, when suddenly, the movie screen went black, sending the movie theater into darkness. A couple of seconds later, the movie came back on, but Spike had vanished. The bucket of popcorn had fallen on the ground while popcorn was scattered everywhere.

"First Rarity and now Spike? Are you kidding me?" Applejack exclaimed, "What's going on? Where did they go?"

"Isn't it strange they keep disappearing when the lights go off?" Flareon asked, "I think Rainbow Dash may be right, we might be dealing with some friend stealing ghost or something." Just as they were about to leave the theater to look for Rarity and Spike, Twilight signaled for them to sit back down.

"Their fine," Twilight said, "Spike probably went to the bathroom or whatever. As for Rarity, maybe she took a nap somewhere and is still sleeping. Now come on...let's finish this movie. It's finally getting to the good part!" Even though they desperately wanted to search for their missing friends, Flareon and the others decided they were over thinking the situation and sat back down to watch the rest of the movie. Later on, Jeeves brought them to the animal room where Rarity's grandmother had kept all her favorites animals and reptiles such as snakes, alligators, squirrels, cast, toucans, dogs, and bats. This was easily Fluttershy's favorite room in the mansion as she eagerly petted every animal and reptile she could get her hooves on. She then went over to the bat cage and opened the cage door, but in doing so, the bats began to fly around everywhere causing instant chaos.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she tried to keep the bats from coming anywhere her, "I'm not getting bit by those things and turning into a vampire!"

"Vampires? You can't be serious," Flareon replied as he was helping Fluttershy return the bats into their cage, "You don't turn into a vampire after getting bit by a vampire bat. How superstitious can you be?" Just as they were almost, Fluttershy flew over to the last bat that was flying near a corner.

"Come here little guy...I won't hurt you," Fluttershy said softly as she moved her hooves towards the bat, but once again the lights went off, and just like before, they eventually came back on, but what they saw before them was beyond belief. Right where Fluttershy used to be, a bat was flying in her spot. Immediately, Rainbow Dash began to scream.

"Oh my god! Fluttershy turned into a vampire!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "That's it! Every pony for themselves!" Through a state of confusion, everyone accidentally became separated as Diamond Manor had now become more like Haunted Manor. Rainbow Dash was flying through a corridor with Pinkie Pie close behind her when a dark figure suddenly appeared before them.

"Oh...it's you," Rainbow Dash said as she was trying to catch her breath, "Come on...let's find the others and get the heck out of this madhouse!" However, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie started to panic when they saw what was happening before them. Again the lights went off and when they came back on, the dark figure along with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had somehow disappeared. Meanwhile, Flareon happened to met up with Applejack and Jeeves inside a hallway.

"Have you guys seen Twilight, Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie Pie?" Flareon asked.

"No...I haven't seen Rarity, Spike, or Fluttershy either," Applejack replied, "This doesn't make any sense. How does everyone keep disappearing when the lights suddenly go off without warning?" Soon after, Twilight came out from another room. Just as they were discussing on what to do next, for the hundredth time already, the lights turned off. When they came back on, Applejack was gone. Flareon had completely lost his patience with all this crazy nonsense and tackled Jeeves to the ground.

"Spill it Jeeves!" Flareon yelled, "Where happened to Applejack and the others? You must know something! Tell me!" Unfortunately, Flareon was never able to get an answer from Jeeves as the lights went off again. When they came back on, Flareon was shocked to discover that Jeeves had disappeared even though he was holding him to the floor. How could Jeeves vanish into thin air when Flareon had been directly on top of him the entire time? Whatever the case, he and Twilight were now the only ones left.

"That's it! I give up!" Flareon exclaimed as he punched the wall in frustration, "No matter how hard I try, I can't figure this out. What about you Twilight? What do you think?" Just then, a malicious sounding voice came from behind him that didn't sound anything like Twilight.

"You're such an ignorant fool!" the voice shouted out. Before Flareon was able react, his vision became cloudy and he soon lost consciousness. When he awoke, Flareon found himself bound together with metal chains and locked inside a cage that was hanging above a pool full of this weird glowing liquid. When Flareon looked down, he saw Twilight standing near the edge of the pool. She had this evil smirk spread across her face. Something was definitely off.

"Twilight?" Flareon asked. He was still trying to figure out what was going on when Twilight started to laugh.

"Wrong!" Twilight chuckled mischievously as she emitted yellow flames which quickly engulfed her entire body. After the flames dispersed, a winged demon with a set of horns and pointed tail was floating before him. "The name's Ryu and your friends are over there." Ryu then pointed to his right. When Flareon turned his head, he saw the real Twilight, along with the others, including Rarity, Spike, and Jeeves, bound together with chains and locked inside a cage too. They were all unconscious. "I have to thank your dear friend Twilight," Ryu said, "If she hadn't opened my book and the read the incantation spell, I would have never been freed from my prison." It turns out when Flareon and the others first arrived at Diamond Manor, Twilight went inside the library and found a book lying on the ground. After she opened it,, Twilight obviously read an incantation spell which summoned Ryu. After he used a spell to knock Twilight out Ryu, thanks to his ability to travel through surfaces, brought Twilight to the basement where he tied her together in metal chains and locked her inside the cage. Once he captured Twilight, Ryu returned to the library and transformed into Twilight and then joined back with them shortly afterwards. One by one, Ryu captured everyone after using his power to mess with the electricity and turn off the lights. After he knocked them out with a spell, Ryu tied them up with chains and tossed them inside the cage with Twilight.  
"Do you see that green liquid below? Once I dip you and your friends into it, you will be transformed into demons and become my personal demon army which will take over Ponyville and destroy anyone who dare attempts to stop us!" As Ryu began to laugh manically, he spotted the smirk on Flareon's face and immediately stopped. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Flareon replied, "It's just that you really have no idea who your messing with." Flareon then went into Flame God Mode and easily destroyed the chains that had previously bounded him along with the cage. Right away, Ryu knew he was in deep trouble.

"Um...how about we sit down and talk about this ok?" Ryu asked in a trembled voice. Unfortunately for him, Flareon wasn't in a talking mood as he quickly charged up his fire magic and shot a huge fireball directly at the scared-stiff demon. Ryu screamed in pain as he slowly disappeared inside the blazing heat of the fire and soon after, Ryu was gone. Just as Flareon was about to celebrate his victory, the chain holding Twilight and his friends cage up suddenly broke. As the cage began to plummet into the dangerous green liquid, Flareon was able to catch it just in time. As he set the cage down on the floor, Flareon immediately tore the cage apart to check on the condition of everyone. Eventually, they began to wake up and after Flareon explained to them about what had happened, they left the basement and went back upstairs to the main floor. A couple of hours later, much to everyone's relief, they finally left the mansion. In the end, Rarity decided not to keep Diamond Manor and handed it over to Jeeves instead. It wasn't because of the whole Ryu fiasco, it was actually because Rarity didn't care much for the décor. She said it was too old-fashioned for her tastes. As they began to walk back to Ponyville after saying goodbye to Jeeves, Flareon looked back at Diamond Manor and saw Jeeves looking at him through window when suddenly, he disappeared. Flareon had to do a double-take to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"What's the matter Flareon? Are you ok?" Twilight asked as she stopped.

"I thought I just saw...never mind," he replied. Flareon then hurried back to her side trying to forget about what he had witnessed a second ago. Even though their time at Diamond Manor was one that they would have loved to erase from their minds, at least they now had a good ghost story to tell around campfires.


	11. A Walk In My Hooves

Chapter 11  
A Walk In My Hooves

To really understand how tough someone's life is they say you must walk a mile their shoes or spend a day in their life. Another way to experience the life of another is to switch bodies with them by way of a body swap potion. However, when six people, or ponies, switch bodies at the same time things can get pretty chaotic, so to speak. Flareon and his friends were about to learn a very important lesson on how hard each others life actually was. It all began one seemingly normal morning in Ponyville. Flareon and Twilight's friends decided to visit them at their house. It wasn't long before the debate of whose life was the toughest started.

"None of you could live even one day in my place," Applejack proudly stated, "The apple farm life isn't for everyone."

"Oh please," Rainbow Dash replied, "My life is hands down the toughest! Do you know how hard it is to keep up a reputation like mine?"

"Surely you must be joking my dear," Rarity scuffed, "That's nothing compared to what I have to deal with everyday. I'm constantly designing and making new dresses and accessories while Picture Perfect breathes down my neck...figurally speaking of course."

"It's not easy taking care of Angel and the other animals," Fluttershy muttered trying not to get too deep into the conversation.

"I love my life!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily, "I bet you guys would love it too!"

"How about...no," Flareon replied in a serious tone, "Also...being the chosen one isn't a simple walk in the park. Not to mention back when I was fighting Alexei and his shadow dragon generals. I would have loved to see any of you done that." Twilight quickly got tired of their constant bickering and headed into the kitchen for a snack. Meanwhile, Spike was walking down from upstairs with three open boxes filled with miscellaneous stuff and moving them down to the basement.

"Why do I always have to do the hard work?" Spike grunted as he slowly made his ways down each step carefully. Just then, Spike stumbled a little, but as a result, a bottle filled with orange smoke popped out of the top box. It bounced down a couple of stairs, hit against a picture frame, and landed on the ground right in the middle of everyone. After the bottle exploded, it quickly engulfed Flareon and the others in a cloud of orange smoke. Eventually, the smoke dispersed. Spike then set down the boxes on the floor and came running to Flareon and began apologizing.

"I'm so sorry Flareon!" Spike exclaimed, "I accidently tripped while walking down the stairs."

"Don't worry about it Spike," Flareon replied, "Just put that stuff in the basement." For some reason, when Flareon had talked, he noticed Spike was looking the other way. "Spike? I'm over here dude."

"Um...what are you talking about Applejack?" Spike replied confused, "Flareon is over there." He quickly pointed to his claw to the right. As Flareon slowly turned his head, he was suddenly stricken with shock as Flareon was looking directly at himself.

"Wait a moment," Flareon muttered, "How am I staring at myself?" Just as Flareon was trying to figure out what was going on, Fluttershy screamed.

"Why am I standing over there?" Fluttershy exclaimed as she pointed to Rainbow Dash. She then looked at her own hooves and touched her name and screamed again. "Who the heck am I?" Immediately, chaos ensued as everyone tried to figure out why they were able to look at themselves without the need of a mirror. A few seconds later, Twilight walked back into the room and was puzzled about why everyone was freaking out. When Spike spotted Twilight, he quickly rushed over to her with a scared and baffled look on his face.

"Spike, what's going on here?" Twilight asked. After Spike explained the best he could, Twilight walked to where the potion had landed and picked up the broken piece and saw the words 'Body Swap Potion' written on it. Right away, it all started to make sense. After Twilight calmed everyone down and told them what happened, she had everyone reveal their names. It turns out Flareon was in Applejack's body, Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy, Applejack was Rarity, Fluttershy was Pinkie Pie, Rarity was Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie was Flareon.

"Oh now I remember," Applejack muttered, "I made that potion a couple of weeks ago."

"Flareon...why would you even bother doing that?!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Well...excuse me Rainbow Dash," Applejack replied, "When you can't play video games, watch anime, and only have a TV that lasts for three hours max everyday, you get pretty bored. I sometimes make random potions for fun." Sadly, fun wouldn't be the best word to describe their situation at the moment. Just as everyone would have loved to beat Flareon, I mean Applejack, into the ground, Twilight let out a deep sigh as she put her right hoof over her face.

"Looks like I'll have to make a reverse body swap potion," Twilight said.

"Thank Celestia!" Rainbow Dash cried out, "How long will that take? One minute? Two minutes? Three?"

"Sorry Rarity," Twilight replied, "A potion to reverse the effects of a potion take longer to make. It's going to be at least about 12 hours before I'm able to finish it." In response, everyone's jaws dropped, except for Flareon as he didn't seem to mind at all.

"Yay!" Flareon giggled, "This is going to be so much fun!" He then smiled happily while hopping to the front door and soon went outside. As a result, Applejack was left with a strange daze on her face by seeing her body being misused in such a horrifying way.

"Pinkie Pie in my body?" Applejack muttered as she shook her head in disgust, "Dear god help us all."

"This is all your fault Flareon," Rarity replied, "You'd better keep my body safe or else."

"Well...have fun everyone," Twilight said as she couldn't help but crack a smile, "It would be best if you try to keep this whole body swap thing a secret. We don't need to cause more confusion than there already is ok? Come on Spike, I'm going to need your help." After Twilight and Spike went upstairs to get started on making a reverse body swap potion, Flareon and the others decided to leave Golden Oak Library and experience their news lives firsthand. After everyone went their separate ways, Flareon decided to see how hard Applejack's life really was and headed for Apple Acres. Soon after, she finally made it to her destination and saw Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom feeding some of the barn animals. Flareon was going to have to put on his best Applejack impression so that they wouldn't get suspicious.

"Howdy y'all!" Applejack exclaimed, "Ain't today the most apple-tastic, country-hoot' in day ever?!" In response, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom just stared at her in complete disbelief.

"Um...big sis? Are you feeling ok? Your voice sounds...off," Apple Bloom replied.

"Yep...it's me alright! Your big sis Applejack. The one and only ," she said with an awkward smile. Apple Bloom decided it was best not to bother asking anymore questions and left to meet up with her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders at their tree house headquarters. Before Applejack was able to say anything word, Big Macintosh signaled for her to follow him. Just as the real Applejack had told him, a life on a farm isn't that easy as he was being put to hard work after hard work feeding the animals, moving the hay stacks, corralling the cows back to the barn, racking up the leaves, putting apples inside the giant apple crusher, putting the containers of apple juice inside a wheel barrel, and taking them to a delivery wagon where they loaded them into it. After the wagon left, Applejack wasn't able to even catch her breath as Big Macintosh signaled her to follow him again. This continued on for eight long hours. Later on, just as they had finally finished, Applejack was surprised that her body wasn't as sore as she thought it would be after all this work, but then again, this was Applejack's body, not his. If Flareon would have done all this work in his own body, he would have fainted from exhaustion a while ago. Just when things couldn't get any worse, three earth ponies, two guys and one girl, came walking towards her and Big Macintosh. She soon learned that these ponies must have been Applejack's relatives.

"Hey there Applejack!" the pony on the right exclaimed, "It's been a while since we last meet." When Applejack didn't say anything, he began to laugh. "Come on! How could you forget about your favorite cousin Keepsake?"

"Oh yeah...Keepsake," Applejack replied trying to act like she knew him, "Of course I remember you, I'm just joking around."

"Is there something wrong with your voice?" Keepsake asked, "It doesn't sound quite like I remember."

"I...uh...just had a cold a couple of days ago," Applejack lied, "Yeah...it does that to your voice sometimes." Soon after, Applejack learned the names of the other two ponies, SweeTango and Akane.

"Applejack! Applejack!" SweeTango shouted ecstatically, "Show us your amazing lasso skills! Like some of the ones you did in the Equestria Rodeo in Ponyville! We weren't able to make it, but I hear you won a gold medal and became Rodeo Champion!" She then tossed a lasso over to Applejack who quickly realized how much trouble she was in. As Applejack reluctantly picked up the lasso with her tail she saw the eager faces of Keepsake, SweeTango, and Akane. Applejack was left without a choice as there was no way out of this.

"Ok," Applejack replied nervously, "Here I go." Unfortunately, amazing wouldn't describe Applejack's lasso skills as she had no idea how to use actually use one. A few seconds later, they were laying on the ground laughing at Applejack, who had tied herself up with the lasso and was trying to break free. Eventually, Keepsake and the others stopped laughing and decided to help Applejack.

"That's definitely our cousin Applejack," Akane chuckled, "Always such a joker. Trying to act like you don't know how to use a lasso. That's a good one!" Applejack laughed along with them even though she hadn't been joking about not being able to use a lasso that well. Four hours later, it was getting dark, so Keepsake, SweeTango, and Akane left Apple Acres and returned home. Seeing at the 12 hours were now up, Applejack rushed to back home Golden Oak Library to see if Twilight had managed to finish the reverse body swap potion. She was also curious to find out how everyone else's day went. Applejack eventually made it home and quickly went inside to find her friends and her body, already there. Just by looking at their exhausted faces, Applejack could tell that their days also went terrible. Soon after, everyone began to tell what their day was like. Flareon learned that Applejack as Rarity ruined every dress she tried to make and Picture Perfect literally fainted when she saw them after coming by the Carousel Boutique for a surprise visit. Fluttershy as Pinkie Pie was scheduled to throw a party at the old folks home, but it was so boring and dull that she made all the elders fall sleep. Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy was somehow able to make all the animals, including Angel, mad at her. She refused to tell them anymore about what happened. Rarity as Rainbow Dash reluctantly accepted every race and challenge she was asked, but lost every single one. Rainbow Dash was left speechless as her reputation was completely tarnished. As for Pinkie Pie in Flareon's body, well...she pretty much almost set fire to half of Ponyville. Things got really hectic went she went into Flame God Mode and kept destroying everything in sight by accident. Flareon knew he had a lot of apologizing to do tomorrow. It wasn't long before everyone started to apologize to each other about saying their life was tougher.

"Music to my ears," Twilight happily said as she walked downstairs from their bedroom with Spike, who was carrying a flask filled with yellow smoke. "It's about time you guys did that."

"Is that what I think it is?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"That's right Rarity. The reverse body swap potion is done," Twilight replied, "Go ahead Spike." He winked at Twilight and then tossed the flask at everyone. Once it hit the ground, the flask exploded and they were quickly engulfed in a yellow smoke cloud. After it dissipated, everyone immediately checked to see if they had returned to their bodies, and for the first good news of the day, everyone was back to normal. From that moment on, they promised never to say that their life was harder ever again, because if they did, Twilight told them she was going to use a body swap potion she had made just in case.


	12. Slumber Party Crasher

Chapter 12  
Slumber Party Crasher

Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about personal or private affairs of others. Between genders, girls gossip more often than boys do, and there isn't anywhere in the world where gossip happens more than during a girls sleepover party. Every guy would kill to somehow be able to get into a girls sleepover party to see exactly what they gossip about, but alas, that is impossible for a guy, unless your able to magically transform into a female by the use of a handy gender transformation spell. It all began one chilly Friday afternoon in Ponyville. Solana and Spike were currently in Fillydelphia for the weekend on a task Princess Celestia had sent them on. Flareon's friends were visiting him and Twilight at Golden Oak Library to discuss their plans for a girls only slumber party starting this evening. Flareon was reading a book on the couch while trying to ignore the ecstatic chatter that Twilight and the others were causing.

"Truth or Dare!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "We definitely need to play that game during the sleepover party tonight!"

"Don't forget about the pillow fight!" Applejack eagerly mentioned.

"Please...no ghost stories," Fluttershy muttered.

"We also can't forget about the facial cream with cucumbers and pedicures too," Rarity replied. In response, Rainbow Dash pointed her right hoof towards her mouth and made a silent gagging sound behind her back.

"Tea party! Tea party! Tea party!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she hopped up and down super excited. As the girls giggled in anticipation of their slumber party, Flareon flipped a page in his book and continued on reading. However, his annoyed demeanor quickly caught the eye of Rainbow Dash. She then flew over to him while he was preoccupied. When Flareon put his book down, he saw Rainbow Dash with a big smirk staring back at him.

"Can I help you with something?" Flareon asked.

"I bet you really want to come to our sleepover party instead of staying at Applejack's place for the night," Rainbow Dash replied.

"No...not really," Flareon said, "A bunch of girls giggling and laughing all night long while doing a bunch of girl stuff like putting on each other's makeup. I'll pass thank you."

"It's too bad that you'll be missing out on all the gossip," Rainbow Dash replied with a mischievous smile. Just as she had anticipated, Flareon quickly sat up on the couch after hearing that word which is taboo for guys.

"Gossip? What kind of gossip? Will it be about me?" Flareon asked. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but giggle a little after seeing the eager look on his face.

"Only the best and juicy type of gossip and maybe it will or it won't," Rainbow Dash replied, "It's too bad you're a guy and not a girl because there is no way we're letting you in our sleepover party." Before Flareon was able to respond, Rainbow Dash flew back over to the girls and resumed conversation. A few seconds later, a smirk suddenly appeared on Flareon's face like he had been stricken by an idea.

"We'll just see about that Rainbow Dash," Flareon whispered under his breath. While they were busy chatting, Flareon slowly got off the couch and silently flew over to a bookshelf where he quickly picked out a book called 'Spells and Potions for your Body and Mind'. You may remember this book from back when Flareon accidentally transformed himself into a mare nicknamed Flarena. He then headed for the door to the garage and slipped quietly inside. After Flareon sat down near his workbench, he opened up the book. Unlike last time Flareon used this book, he went for the male section. Seeing as how he used a potion before, Flareon decided to use a spell this time. Eventually, Flareon found the page he was looking for called 'gender transformation spells'.

"Ah! Here we go," Flareon muttered, "Temporary transformation spell: This is an advanced casting spell that allows the user to become a mare. Beware: This spell will immediately wear off if the user in drenched in water." Flareon paused for a moment to think. "Well...I doubt I will have to worry about that part. I mean...it's not like a rain cloud will suddenly appear above and rain on me indoors." After Flareon read the spell over a couple of times to make sure he had it right, Flareon closed his eyes and muttered the indication. Immediately, he was cloaked in a bright light and a second later, it disappeared. Flareon then quickly ran over to the mirror and gasped in response to seeing his reflection. Flareon had successfully became a female alicorn. This time on purpose. "Yes! It worked!" she giggled happily. Flareon now had a long white flowing mane and tail with a beautiful aqua coat. Her cutie mark was a full moon with two small clouds. "Let's see...I'll need an alias. How about...Midnight?" Flareon paused as she muttered the name to herself three times. "Yes! Perfect! Midnight it is! Ok...I'll go out for a while and then I'll have to run into one of the girls and convince them to let me come to their sleepover party. I'll probably set my target on Pinkie Pie seeing as she would allow anyone, friend or complete stranger, to come to a sleepover party with her." After Midnight put the book inside the desk, she opened the garage door an inch and looked underneath it to make sure no one was nearby. Once the coast was clear, she went under the garage door and quickly blended in with the Ponyville residents. Midnight decided to hang around near Sugarcube Corner and wait for when Pinkie Pie came out to head for the slumber party at Golden Oak Library. Eventually, night set in and just as planned, Midnight spotted Pinkie Pie leaving her house. It was now or never.

"Um...hello," Midnight said as she ran up to her.

"Oh hi!" Pinkie Pie replied.

"Mind me asking where you're going this late at night?" Midnight asked nonchalantly.

"I'm going to my best friend Twilight's sleepover party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "It's going to be so much fun!"

"Can I come too? I just came to visit this town and I don't know anyone here yet," Midnight said. She then decided to use her secret weapon. "All I want is to have some...friends." Her plan worked to perfection as Pinkie Pie's eyes instantly lit up. She just couldn't resist that word.

"Of course you can!" Pinkie Pie replied happily, "The more friends at a sleepover party, the better. I'm sure Twilight won't mind one bit!" Trying to contain her composure at how well this plan was going so far, Midnight followed after Pinkie Pie to Golden Oak Library. After they went inside the house, Midnight could see that Twilight and the others were already prepared with sleeping bags, flashlights, a tea set, pillows, and Rarity's makeup kit.

"You finally made it Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. She then noticed that Pinkie Pie had brought someone with her. "Who's your new friend?"

"Her name's Midnight," Pinkie Pie replied, "She just here came to visit Ponyville and meet some new friends, so I brought her with me. Is that ok?"

"Sure," Twilight said, "I understand how she feels. Arriving in a new town is always tough when you don't know anyone yet." Twilight walked over to Midnight and shook her hoof. "It's nice to meet you Midnight. I'll go get another sleeping bag from the upstairs closet." After everyone introduced themselves, they began to ask Midnight where she lived. Since Midnight didn't want them asking if they could visit her, she made up a story about her living in a small town by herself that was invisible only her and was guarded by a deaf and blind dragon that would only allow her inside. Much to Midnight's relief, everyone was disappointed they couldn't come to visit her. Soon after, the sleepover finally got into full swing. Now all Midnight had to do was endure every activity until they got to the gossip. She had to absolutely make sure if it would be about Flareon. First up, they began to apply this strange blue paste from Rarity's makeup kit onto each other's faces along with two cucumber slices to put on their eyes. When it was Midnight's turn, she let Rarity apply them onto her as she laid down on a chair. It wasn't actually as bad as Midnight thought it would be.

"Wow Rarity! You were right," Midnight said as she relaxed on her chair along with everyone, "This paste stuff sure feels amazing!"

"I told you dear," Rarity replied, "This is the best treatment you can possibly have to improve your complexion." After thirty minutes of facial treatment, they jumped right into the next activity, telling ghost stories. Fluttershy immediately began to hide inside her sleeping bag as Twilight turned off the lights. Only the light from their flashlights could be seen. After everyone took their turn telling a ghost story, it was now Midnight's turn to tell one.

"Ok girls...I've got a really scary story to tell. I hope you're ready for it," Midnight said as she put her flashlight near her face. "It was a dark cold night, just like this one. A group of girls where having a slumber party, when suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. When one of them went to answer it, no one was there. Just as they thought it was nothing, a girl noticed one of them was missing and they began to search for her. One by one, each of them started to disappear, until only one girl was left. As she desperately searched for her lost friends, she heard a noise from behind her. When the girl turned around...it...got her!" Midnight let out an eerie scream which made everyone literally jumped off their sleeping bags. When they looked up, they Rainbow Dash gripping onto the ceiling in pure terror. After she came back down, Rainbow Dash tried to act like Midnight's story didn't frighten her.

"I wasn't scared," Rainbow Dash muttered, "I was just imitating a spider...that's all." She started to blush as everyone burst out laughing. They soon decided to award Midnight with best ghost story. The next activity was a pillow fight. As everyone grabbed their pillow, they quickly began the fight as feathers were sent flying everywhere. In the heat of battle, Midnight accidently forgot she was supposed to be imitating a mare and used all her stallion-strength power. In the end, she easily was able to defeat them, including the reigning Pillow Fight Queen Applejack.

"Holy cow Midnight," Applejack said as she rubbed her sore head, "You sure are strong for a mare. I would say your strength is almost stallion-like!"

"It's nothing," Midnight replied trying to downplay the situation, "I...uh...got this strength from my dad. He was really strong."

"Don't think I'll go easy on you next time!" Applejack exclaimed, "The next sleepover we have...I'm getting back my title!" After Twilight pronounced Midnight the new Pillow Fight Queen, they sat down on their sleeping bags and prepared for the next activity, Truth or Dare. During this point, Midnight was having so much fun that she forgot the reason she became a mare to sneak into this slumber party in the first place. A couple of minutes later, after Twilight and the others had their turn, it went to Rarity who chose truth and was forced to admit she loved Spike. As Rarity blushed furiously in response to admitting that embarrassing truth, it was now Midnight's turn.

"Ok Midnight...truth or dare?" Rainbow Dash eagerly asked. Midnight ponder for a moment trying to decide what her answer was going to be.

"Um...dare!" Midnight quickly responded.

"Ok...you asked for it!" Rainbow Dash replied, "I dare you...to...kiss Twilight on the cheek!" Immediately, both Twilight and Midnight began to blush as they were completely surprised by Rainbow Dash's dare request. After they looked at her smug face, Midnight and Twilight turned to face each other. Even though she was actually married to Twilight, Midnight had to act like she didn't want to kiss her. Midnight slowly moved towards Twilight and quickly kissed her on the cheek and retreated back to her sleeping bag. In response, the others gasped surprised that Midnight was somehow able to finish the dare request so easily. Midnight was desperately trying to her face as she didn't want them to think she had actually enjoyed it. Now that truth or dare was done, all that was left was the tea party Pinkie Pie had requested. Just as everyone was preparing to begin the last activity, Midnight suddenly felt a huge sneeze coming on. This couldn't have come at a worse time. Other than happening when getting surprised, Flareon would sometimes accidentally use his fire magic when he let out a big sneeze by mistake. If that happened now, they would find out she was actually Flareon in disguise. Whatever the case, Midnight couldn't let that happen. Midnight put her hooves to her nose and held her breath. A few seconds later, Midnight put down her hooves thinking the crisis was over, but sadly, it wasn't. She then let out a loud sneeze, and just like she had feared, Midnight accidently activated her fire magic and shot a small fireball directly at her sleeping bag. Immediately, it caught on fire, but thankfully, no one saw her using fire magic. Midnight quickly decided to act like her sleeping bag had suddenly caught on fire out of nowhere, even though that actually happening seemed ludicrous.

"Oh no!" Midnight cried out while trying to act like she was surprised, "My sleeping bag caught of fire! Someone help me put it out!" Immediately, everyone began to panic as they tried to find a way to put out the fire. Rainbow Dash was seen flying out the window and came back with a large cloud. She then grabbed the cloud and shook it vigorously, like someone shaking a can of pop, and immediately it turned a gray color. A second later, rain started to emit from the cloud and fell down on them, easily putting out the fire. Just as everyone started to yell at Rainbow Dash at an unnecessary overkill for using such a large rain cloud on a small fire, their eyes suddenly widened in shock at Flareon was standing in the spot where Midnight used to do. It didn't take them long to figure out what was going on.

"Flareon?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I think I know what happened," Twilight stated as she looked at Flareon angrily, "He used a gender transformation spell to change into a mare to sneak into our sleepover party!" Just as Flareon was starting to feel the sudden pressure of five very angry girls who just discovered his secret plan, Pinkie Pie was looking around worried.

"Hey...where did Midnight go?" Pinkie Pie asked, completely oblivious to the current situation. In response, Rainbow Dash hit herself in the face with her right hoof in disbelief. As she began to yell at Pinkie Pie, Twilight walked towards Flareon in attempt to get some straightforward answers.

"Why did you change yourself into a mare just to sneak into our sleepover party?" Twilight asked. Seeing as there was no way for him to get out of this mess, Flareon decided it was finally time to come clean.

"I was worried you would gossip about me after Rainbow Dash bragged you would be doing that," Flareon embarrassingly admitted, "I just wanted to find out for myself what you would say about me." Flareon then let out a deep sigh. "Sorry." Just as he prepared for them to kick him out for crashing their slumber party, Flareon felt something touch him. When he looked to his right, Flareon saw Twilight smiling at him while saw had her left hoof resting on his shoulder.

"Flareon...Rainbow Dash was just saying that to egg you on," Twilight replied, "We would never gossip about you behind your back." The others nodded their heads in agreement. "Also...you don't think I would let them say anything bad about my dear husband...do you?" After smiling in response to her words, Flareon grabbed Twilight and they shared an apology hug. However, Flareon wasn't in the clear just yet. He still had to face his punishment for crashing their slumber party. "Well girls...what should we do with him?" As everyone looked at Flareon with mischievous smiles on their faces, he gulped as they slowly made their way over to him. Later on, everyone was sitting around the coffee table having a tea party. As Twilight took a sip from her cup, she set it down and looked to her right.

"More tea Princess Flareon?" Twilight said as she raised the teapot and moved it over to Flareon, who had makeup on while wearing an elegant dress matched with a hat. He had a blank stare on his face that screamed kill me now. Unfortunately, this was the punishment Flareon had to endure for crashing their sleepover party.

"Yes please," Flareon replied in a high-pitched voice. They couldn't help but giggle in response to hearing Flareon imitating a girl's voice. Twilight smiled as she poured some tea into his cup. Eventually, Flareon was able to make it through the tea party. As midnight came to pass, Twilight decided it was time for them to finally go to sleep. After everyone got into their sleeping bags, they said goodnight to each other. They laid their heads on their pillows, pulled their covers closer, and went to sleep. From this moment on, they promised to let him come to their next slumber party, not as Flareon, but their new best friend Midnight.


	13. The End

Chapter 13  
The End

Almost anything can be solved by using science. However, there are some things that can't be explained by science, like Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense for example. Somehow Pinkie Pie is able to predict the future by an unexplainable sixth sense. No matter how hard Twilight tried, she could not figure out how Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense worked. Not to mention, Pinkie Pie was never wrong when she used her Pinkie Sense, not even once. When she sensed something, you'd better listen to her or else. You can take Twilight's word on that one. If Pinkie Pie sensed a pot falling, you should move. When Pinkie Pie sensed a door opening, you should back away. When Pinkie Pie senses the world coming to an end, you should prepare for it right away. That last one actually did happen, but not in the way Flareon, Twilight, and their friends thought it would be. It all began one afternoon in Ponyville. Flareon with his friends and family were having a picnic in the park. All seemed quiet, cool, and peaceful as not a single cloud was seen in the sky. That all instantly changed when Pinkie Pie's entire body began to shake uncontrollably. "What is it this time Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked as she took a bite of her piece of apple pie, "Hopefully not another flash flood again."

"Oh wow...it's a really big one!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she continued to shake.

"Well...what is it?" Flareon asked as he petted Chibiterasu in his lap.

"It's...the end!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Even though they were used to her Pinkie Sense, nothing could have prepared them for this.

"What do you mean the end?" Twilight asked. She stopped to think for a second, when suddenly, her eyes widen in shock. "You can't possibly be talking about the end of the world?!" Just then, Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight with a panic look on her face.

"Twilight! Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense is never wrong! Never!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "If it's the end of the world, it's the end of the world! We need to get prepared as fast as possible before it happens! I'll alert Mayor Mare!" Soon after, Rainbow Dash flew into the air and rushed to find the mayor so she could activate the Emergency Pinkie Sense Siren. As everyone quickly split-up to prepare for the end, Flareon, Twilight, Spike, Solana, and Chibiterasu, headed back home to turn Golden Oak Library into an anti-apocalypse safe house. Later on, not only was Ponyville thrown into chaos, but Cloudsdale, Fillydelphia, and every major city in Equestria. It was getting so bad that the stock market in Manehattan was completely chaotic that all the big investors were selling all their stock as a result of Pinkie Pie predicting the end of the world. Riots had sprung up everywhere and the Equestria Police wasn't able to keep it under control. Meanwhile in Canterlot, the residents had been evacuated to a large underground bunker that was specifically built to endure the apocalypse and Pinkie Pie. As Princess Celestia was looking out onto the empty city from the castle balcony, Princess Luna suddenly appeared.

"Sister! I've safely evacuated all the residents to the bunker," she panted out of breath, "We need to hurry there now! Twilight just sent a message saying that Pinkie Pie sensed it's going to happen any moment now!" Celestia let out a deep sigh and turned around to face her panic stricken sister.

"I feared this day would come," Celestia replied, "Ok...let's go." She then followed after Luna to the underground bunker where all the Canterlot residents were waiting cautiously for the end of the world Pinkie Pie had foreseen. As for the residents of Cloudsdale, the last place you want to be during an apocalypse is in the sky where there is a high possibility of falling meteorites, so all the pegasus ponies had to find ponies in Ponyville that would let them into their house. Meanwhile at Apple Acres, Applejack and her family were desperately trying to bring as many apples into their house cellar so that they may replant apple tress once they managed to survive the end of the world.

"Come on Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelled as Apple Bloom was walking to the cellar door while carrying three large baskets of apples on her back, "Get those into the cellar now! We don't have much time!"

"Will everyone else be ok?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I sure hope so," Applejack replied as Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were following close behind Apple Bloom. After they managed to get as many apples into the cellar as possible, Applejack brought her dog Wiona and the rest their barn animals down into the cellar too and quickly locked the door tight. Meanwhile at Carousel Boutique, Rarity was desperately trying to save as much of her work as possible into a large wooden crate. After the crate reached its maximum load, Rarity nailed the crate shut and turned to face Sweetie Belle and Opalescence.

"Quick!" Rarity exclaimed, "To the anti-Pinkie Pie bunker!"

"Um...sis," Sweetie Belle replied, "We don't have one of those."

"Oh right," Rarity said in a disappointed voice, "Let's just go to Flareon and Twilight's house. I'm sure they still have some room left." She signaled for them to follow her to Golden Oak Library while Opalescence, seeing as she had no other choice, walked after Rarity. Sweetie Belle was then forced to push the large crate filled with Rarity's dresses and accessories all by herself. Later on, at Golden Oak Library, Flareon and his family were hiding together inside the basement. However, they were not alone as other pegasus ponies from Cloudsdale, including Rainbow Dash, were with them. Not to mention Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Opalescence. Pinkie Pie, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were also present. The silence was beyond deafening as everyone was waiting for the end of the world to begin.

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight muttered, "Is it here now?" Just as she had said that, Pinkie Pie's entire body began to shake again.

"It's here! It's here! It's here!" Pinkie Pie cried out. In response, everyone began to scream as they closed their eyes and huddled close to each other in preparation for the worst. When nothing happened, they opened their eyes to see Pinkie Pie standing up with her hooves over the head.

"It's the end of the episode!" Pinkie Pie happily exclaimed with a big smile on her face. Everyone was completely dumbfounded with their jaws hanging down as they had just realized they prepared for the wrong kind of end. However, no one felt more ashamed and mortified than Twilight because she was the one who mentioned the end of the world when Pinkie Pie told them she sensed the end. Twilight had her face dug onto Flareon's side as he tried his best to soften the blow.

"Pinkie Pie!" everyone yelled angrily as they chased Pinkie Pie out of the basement and directly into town. Back at Golden Oak Library, Flareon and his family were still sitting down inside their basement. They were still to embarrassed to leave their house and they probably wouldn't for a quite some time.


	14. Escape From Prison Island

Chapter 14  
Escape From Prison Island

Ravage Sea is known as the most vicious and deadly sea in Equestria. Attempting to swim in it would mean certain death. That is the reason Prison Island was built on Ravage Sea. Every single inmate that tried to escape and swim to freedom was never seen or heard from ever again. Throughout the history of Prison Island, no one has ever been able to safely escape. You could say that it is impossible to break out of Prison Island. That was all about to change when two inmates did the unthinkable and managed to successfully escape from Prison Island. The name of those two ponies were Flareon and Bora. It all began one stormy afternoon on Ravage Sea. A prison boat was making its way through the unrelenting waves to its destination, Prison Island. Each pony on the boat was wearing hoofcuffs while a couple of guards stood watch to make sure none of them tried anything funny. One of those ponies on that was Flareon. You may be wondering why Flareon was wearing hoofcuffs and on a boat that was heading towards a place where only the most wanted criminals in Equestria were kept. It all started in the morning at Golden Oak Library, when suddenly, the Equestria Police stormed into the house and tackled Flareon to the ground. As they were putting him in hoofcuffs, Princess Celestia appeared and told Twilight that Flareon was wanted full multiples crimes. The worst crime on the list was stealing a diamond plated staff from a museum in Fillydelphia. Even though Twilight told Celestia there was no way that Flareon could or would commit those crimes, Princess Celestia apologized saying there was nothing she could do. There was too much evidence against Flareon, including pictures and witnesses that proved it was him. Twilight immediately began to cry as Flareon was tossed into a police wagon and taken away to Prison Island. Twilight made a promise to him before he left that she would somehow find the true criminal to prove his innocence. As the boat finally made it to the island, Flareon could see why it was known as the most notorious prison in Equestria. It was heavily guarded with multiple watch towers and guards stationed at each one. Steel fences with barbed wires on top prevented any means of escape. Soon after, Flareon and the other convicts were led together out of the boat, like a chain gang, over a drawbridge into the prison. Once they made it inside, the drawbridge slowly came up and locked into its normal position. After the prison guards took the hoofcuffs off them, they forced the convicts into orange jumpsuits. The guards then strapped the pegasus ponies with these rubber straps with a key lock that held down their wings and prevented them from flying. The unicorns were strapped down with anti-magic rubber straps that had these white jewels embedded in them. This prevented the unicorns from using their magic. Since Flareon was an alicorn, they had to strap his wings down with the anti-magic ones, to prevent him from using magic and flying. A few minutes later, each of them was lead to Lockdown Warden's office. They said he liked to meet each prisoner after they arrived to see them before their hope of getting out was completely broken. Once it was Flareon's turn, a guard opened the door and he walked inside. Lockdown was sitting by his desk and smiled when he saw Flareon.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?" Lockdown said, "If it isn't the chosen one himself." He let out a small chuckle as he looked down at the papers on his desk. "Let's see...you sure have built up a large rap sheet. What's wrong? Was being the hero too good for you?"

"I didn't commit those crimes," Flareon replied in a serious tone, "I'm innocent." In response, Lockdown burst of laughing. The sound of his laughter made Flareon's skin crawl.

"Innocent?" Lockdown said as he wiped a tear of joy from his eye, "That's what they all say." He then signaled for a prison guard to take him to his cell. As Flareon was being lead away, he could feel Lockdown's cold stair coming from behind him. "Enjoy your stay at Prison Island chosen one," Lockdown chuckled. Soon after, Flareon arrived at his cell and once it was opened, he was quickly shoved inside. After the guard closed his cell door, Flareon let out a disappointed sigh as he tried to figure out what to do next, but nothing came to mind. Unless they caught the Flareon imposter, there was no way he was getting out.

"Hey there Flareon," a voice said from behind him, "Who would have thought this is where we would meet again?" For some reason, this voice sounded very familiar, so Flareon immediately turned around in response. The pony that was standing before him was none other than the famous marauder and the one who Flareon captured and sent to Prison Island years ago. The sly and charming alicorn named Bora.

"Bora?!" Flareon exclaimed, "Is...that you?" Unlike from before, this Bora wasn't as handsome as he used to be. His mane wasn't as slick and well-groomed and the cheeks on his face were sunken in. He also seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

"Yep...it's me alright," Bora replied as she stretched out on his bed and looked up at the stone ceiling, "The guy who you sent here about seven years ago."

"No offense, but you did try to rob Ponyville blind while making attempts to mess with my wife and friends, "Serves you right."

"So...what did you do to get sentenced here?" Bora snickered.

"I didn't do anything," Flareon replied sarcastically, "Some imposter framed me and went on this massive crime spree."

"I believe you," Bora muttered as he turned his head towards Flareon, who couldn't believe his ears.

"Wait? You actually believe me?" Flareon asked.

"Yep," Bora replied, "After how you went your way to try to stop me back then and how you talked about your wife and friends, there is no way you could be a criminal." Flareon turned to his right and laid down on his bed.

"So...how do I get out of here?" Flareon asked, but his hopes quickly faded when Bora started to laugh.

"You can't," Bora replied, "Not with those anti-magic straps on your body keeping you from using magic and flying. The only way you can escape like that is by sea, that is, if you want to die by drowning. Sorry to say Flareon, you're stuck here until that imposter of yours is caught." Bora then yawned and turned to face the wall. "You might as well start getting used to this place. Like me, your probably going to be here for the rest of your life." Soon after, Bora fell asleep and left Flareon alone with his thoughts about his family. Would he ever see them again? Would he ever see his daughter finally become the Princess of Equestria? Would he be able to feel Twilight's loving embrace one more time? As much as Flareon wanted, he just had to put his hope in that the imposter would be caught soon. That's all he could do for now. Flareon put his head down on his pillow and fell into an uneasy sleep. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as every day the hope of the imposter's capture had become smaller and smaller. Now that it has been almost three months since Flareon had arrived at Prison Island, it was looking doubtful he was ever getting out, but there was one thing that did give him hope. Twilight's promise to him that she would find the imposter and set him free. Back at his cell, Flareon was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Like Bora, Flareon's mane was a complete mess and his cheeks were sunken in. His stomach ached from hunger as he was only allowed to eat once a day. It didn't help much that the food tasted terrible. He desperately wanted to return home to his family more than anything.

"Bora," Flareon said as he turned to face him, "I need to get out of this place...now."

"Sorry Flareon, I told you already. Unless that imposter is caught...your stuck in here," Bora replied. However, Flareon wasn't about to give up quite yet.

"There has to be a way out Bora," Flareon said, "No matter how impossible it may seem, there has to be someway to escape Prison Island."

"Well...there this a way," Bora replied with a smile, "It's risky and dangerous with a possibility that you could be killed. Are you sure you want to go for it?"

"If by a small chance I can see my wife and family again, I will do...anything," Flareon said with fire in his eyes.

"Ok...let's make a deal Flareon," Bora replied, "I'll help you escape this place only if you help me escape too." For some reason, Flareon figured that Bora was planning something like this, but considering how badly he wanted to return to Ponyville, Flareon was left with no other choice.

"It's a deal," Flareon said as he walked over to Bora and shook his hoof as they agreed to a truce, "But...if I ever hear about you in the newspaper stealing stuff again, I will personally come find you and drag you back to this place myself." In response, Bora laughed as he sat down on his bed and began to tell Flareon his plan to escape Prison Island. First up, Flareon had to gain respect from all the inmates. The only way for him to do that is to beat up the strongest and most menacing inmate on Prison Island. Flareon's target was a monstrous earth pony by the name of Crash. The best place for their fight would be the one time a day all the inmates get together in the same room, during lunch in the cafeteria. Later on, after getting their food, Flareon and Bora sat down by a table in the cafeteria. It wasn't long before they spotted Crash eating his food a couple of tables away. Bora slowly began to eat his food. Flareon could tell Bora was as nervous as he was.

"Well...good luck dude," Bora muttered with food in his mouth, "Try to not to get all your bones broken."

"Yeah...thanks," Flareon replied. He then swallowed his courage and made his way towards the table were Crash was. Just as Flareon got close, Crash noticed him walking over from the corner of his eye.

"What the heck do you want little pony?" Crash muttered as he downed his drink in one gulp.

"Shut up you dimwitted behemoth!" Flareon yelled as he slammed Crash's head right into the food on his tray. In response, the entire cafeteria went silent as Crash slowly lifted his head off his tray and turned to face Flareon. Crash was seething with rage while smashed food dripped down from his face.

"Your dead! You hear me pipsqueak? Dead!" Crash shouted. Immediately, all the inmates, including Bora, surrounded Flareon and Crash. They began to chant the word fight in anticipation of seeing both ponies duke it out. As Flareon and Crash circled around each other, Flareon had to be careful not to let Crash get a hold on him or else it was over. Just a single hit from one of Crash's immense hooves could knock Flareon out cold. One by one, he was able to dodge every hit Crash was trying to land on him, trying to wait for the right moment to counter attack. However, Crash was starting to become impatient. "Hold still kid!" Crash yelled as Flareon continued to evade his attacks. Before he knew it, Flareon found himself backed into a wall. There was nowhere to run. "I've got you now!" Crash exclaimed as he charged head-first at Flareon. In a blink of an eye, Flareon jumped high into the air, right above Crash, and kicked as hard as he could. As a result, Flareon sent Crash flying into the stone wall. Similar to a large building being demolished, Crash fell like a ton of bricks to the ground. In response, the crowd cheered loudly after seeing Crash had been KO'd. As expected, the prison guards soon came to break up the situation now that it was over. After they took away the unconscious Crash to the infirmary, the inmates surrounded Flareon and told him how impressed they were. Step one was a complete success as Flareon now had respect from all the inmates on Prison Island. Now Flareon and Bora had to use that respect for step two.

"Ok guys...here's the plan," Bora whispered to the group of inmates, "Your going to help me and Flareon escape Prison Island. Spread the word around to everyone to start a huge riot tomorrow afternoon, right when they let us out for our lunch break. The riot is going to be so big that it should get the attention of every prison guard on this island, including Lockdown. While the riot is active, me and Flareon are going to sneak into the warden's office and find the keys to get these anti-magic straps off us. Once we're able to use magic and fly again, it should be a piece of cake to getting out of here." As they nodded their heads in agreement, step two was now set to begin as planned tomorrow afternoon. Eventually, the day ended and tomorrow came, and just as planned, all the inmates caused a riot right after they were released from their cells for lunch. As expected, the riot was so big, that all the prison guards on the island were called over to contain it, including Lockdown himself. As chaos reigned all over the prison, Flareon and Bora were able to slip past all the guards undetected, and safely made it to Lockdown's office. After they made it inside, they rushed over to the room where the keys for their straps were kept. Once they found the key to the room in Lockdown's desk, they quickly open the door and found a room filled with keys and other stuff, including anti-magic straps and normal ones. After they used the keys to take off their straps, they were now able to fly and use magic. Now all that they had to do was escape. Thanks to Flareon's fire magic, he was easily able to bust through the stone walls. It wasn't even two minutes before Flareon and Bora found themselves outside. The wind against their faces felt like the winds of freedom. They quickly flew high into the air and began to fly away without bothering to look back.

"We did it Flareon! We actually did it!" Bora yelled happily as he was finally free after seven long years.

"So...what are you doing to do now?" Flareon asked.

"I'm thinking of traveling around Equestria and helping out those in need. I'm going to make the most out of my newfound freedom. I'll try to make up for my past the best I can!" Bora exclaimed. Flareon waved goodbye to him as Bora turned right and flew away the other direction. Once he was out of sight, Flareon turned left and set his sights on making it back to Ponyville.

"Hold on Twilight! Solana! Everyone!" Flareon shouted, "I'm coming back home!" Just as he was flying back to Ponyville, Flareon didn't even notice a prison boat headed towards Prison Island below him. On that boat was Princess Celestia and Twilight, along with the Flareon imposter. It turns out, like Twilight had promised, she managed to find and capture the pony who was pretending to be Flareon. Twilight found him attempting to rob a bank in Fillydelphia. As they finally made it to Prison Island, they showed Lockdown the Flareon imposter and demanded they release the real innocent Flareon at once. They were completely dumbfounded and shocked to find out Flareon had escaped, along with another pony. In the end, the riot finally subsided and the Flareon imposter was thrown behind bars. On this day, history was made as two ponies, Flareon and Bora, managed to do the impossible and successfully escaped from Prison Island.


	15. The Cutie Mark Rangers

Chapter 15  
The Cutie Mark Rangers

If you could be a superhero, what would your power be? Invisibility? Super strength? Laser beam eyes? Unfortunately, for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they didn't not possess any of those powers, but that didn't stop them from trying to be superheroes, or in other words, the Cutie Mark Rangers. It all began one afternoon at the CMC tree house. Solana and her friends just got out of school. Once again, Solana was trying to help them get their cutie marks. As they began to brainstorm ideas, Scootaloo's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey! What if we became super heroes?" Scootaloo suggested, "We could try to get super hero cutie marks!"

"Great idea Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, "We could patrol Ponyville and help everyone who needs it!"

"I'll go to my sister's house and make our super hero uniforms," an excited Sweetie Belle said, "Let's see...we'll need jumpsuits, helmets, and of course, the capes!" After everyone agreed to the idea, Sweetie Belle quickly got out of her chair and rushed over to Carousel Boutique. About two hours later, Sweetie Belle returned with a box. When she opened it, Sweetie Belle showed them their uniforms.

"I decided to make them different colors," Sweetie Belle said as she gave them their uniforms that had a cape and a helmet with a visor, "Solana is the pink ranger, Apple Bloom is the yellow ranger, Scootaloo is the orange ranger, and I'm the purple ranger."

"What do you mean ranger?" Solana asked.

"Oh...I was thinking maybe it would be cool if we called ourselves the Cutie Mark Rangers," Sweetie Belle replied, "Our motto could be something like...Never fear, the Cutie Mark Rangers are here!"

"That's an awesome idea Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "The Cutie Mark Rangers! I love it!" As everyone agreed to the name and motto, Solana thought of a neat idea.

"Hey! I could have my dad make us a telephone so we could talk to Mayor Mare to see if anyone needs help," Solana said, "I remember him telling me about how humans have phones so that can communicate with each other from far away."

"That would be perfect Solana!" Apple Bloom replied. In response, Solana eagerly left the tree house and headed home to ask Flareon to make a telephone for them. Later on, back at the CMC tree house, Flareon was showing them how to use their new telephone.

"Ok...so with this telephone you will be able to talk to Mayor Mare, who I also gave one too," Flareon explained, "When you get a call, this red light on the telephone will start blinking and making a small buzzing noise."

"Thanks dad!" Solana replied happily.

"So I heard from Solana that your going to be superheroes?" Flareon asked.

"That's right!" Scootaloo replied. Flareon then let of a concerned sigh.

"Listen...being superheroes is a very big responsibility," Flareon said trying to make them understand, "Just be careful ok? I don't need Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity getting mad at me if you four end up hurting yourselves."

"We promise!" they exclaimed together. Even though he was concerned about them trying to be superheroes, Flareon decided they would be fine and left the tree house. Once Flareon was gone, it wasn't long before the phone started to ring. Solana was the one who picked it up.

"Hello? Mayor Mare?" Solana asked as the others waited in anticipation, "Yeah...yeah...ok. We'll be right there ASAP...bye!" Once Solana put down the phone, she turned to face her friends with a big smile stamped on her face. "We got our first mission girls!" In response, they giggled happily as they quickly put on their uniforms and helmets. Once they were ready, Solana held out her right hoof in front of her like a soldier preparing to go into battle. "Ok! Cutie Mark Rangers! Roll out!" After they nodded their heads in agreement, Solana and the Cutie Mark Rangers left their secret headquarters and headed towards their objective, which was to save Pinkie Pie's pet Gummy from a tree. Once the Cutie Mark Rangers arrived, they saw a worried Pinkie Pie looking up at Gummy, who was stuck on the very top of a tall tree.

"Never fear, the Cutie Mark Rangers are here!" they exclaimed together.

"Oh please! Save my poor Gummy!" Pinkie Pie pleaded. Once they promised her everything would be ok, they quickly got to work saving Gummy. First, they got into a formation where they were holding Solana in their hooves.

"1...2...3!" they yelled together as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo threw Solana all the way to the top of the tree. Once Solana was able to safely secure Gummy, she jumped off the tree branch. Solana used her small wings to decelerate and then Sweetie Belle used her magic to slow her down even more so they were able to catch her. Right away, an ecstatic Pinkie Pie picked up Gummy and hugged him.

"Oh Gummy! I'm so glad your safe!" Pinkie Pie cried out. She then turned to them with a big smile on her face. "Thanks for your help Cutie Mark Rangers!" After they said goodbye to her and Gummy, Solana and the Cutie Mark Rangers headed back to their tree house to prepare for when they received a new mission. As the days went by, the Cutie Mark Crusaders continued to answer calls from Mayor Mare about ponies around town that needed their help. Not only have they helped Flareon and Twilight's friends, but also their own family. Things couldn't become any better. That part was sadly true as the number of calls began to decline. It go so bad that they started to get desperate for any type mission that could do, no matter how dull or boring it was. During a rainy evening, the Cutie Mark Rangers were at the tree house, still waiting for a call from Mayor Mare.

"Come on," Apple Bloom muttered with her head laying on her desk, " A call...any call...anything."

"Just give it up Apple Bloom," Scootaloo replied, "We didn't get a single call the entire day." Just as she said that, the phone began to ring, and everyone quickly rushed to answer it. Apple Bloom was the who answered it.

"Hello?! Mayor Mare? What can we do for you? Someone stuck in a well?" Apple Bloom asked desperately, but the smile on her face instantly vanished. "Yeah...ok...bye." After she hung up the phone, Apple Bloom turned to Solana. "She said your mom wants you to come home for dinner Solana." Seeing as how the Cutie Mark Rangers would be nothing without one of their members present, they decided to call it a day and go home. Just before they were about to leave, Scootaloo got an idea for how they could raise the probability of receiving mission.

"You know...we could make situations where ponies would need our help," Scootaloo suggested as she put away her helmet and uniform into the chest along with the others.

"Wait Scootaloo...your saying we should make something happen ourselves?" Solana asked.

"Come on girls! I really want to get my cutie mark!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "We aren't going to get them if we're just waiting here all day for a single call!"

"I actually agree with Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle replied, "Tomorrow...let's create something so big that once we finish it, we'll instantly receive our super hero cutie marks!" After everyone nodded their heads in agreement, they went back to their homes in anticipation for tomorrow's big important job. The next day, it seemed like a perfect afternoon, but little did the residents of Ponyville know, that peace was about to be rudely irrupted. Meanwhile, a top of a large hill overlooking Ponyville, the Cutie Mark Rangers were standing beside a very large boulder.

"Um...are you sure this safe?" Solana asked nervously.

"Of course it's safe!" Apple Bloom replied, "All we have to do is push this boulder down the hill, then we all race the boulder on Scootaloo's scooter to the town hall, and then you and Sweetie Belle use your magic to stop the boulder before it crashes into the town hall. Piece of cake!"

"Cutie marks here we come!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. They quickly ran up behind the boulder and started to push. Once the boulder began to rumble down the hill, they got onto Scootaloo's scooter and hurried past the rock to the town hall. A few seconds later, ponies everywhere began to panic as a huge rock rolled through town. Nothing was able to stand in its way as it easily rolled over everything, including a fruit stand, as it made its way to the town hall. Just before it was about to crash into it, the Cutie Mark Rangers appeared in front of the town hall. Exactly as planned, Solana and Sweetie Belle activated their magic and tried to stop the boulder in its tracks. However, their magic wasn't strong enough as they completely overestimated the mass of the boulder. Seeing as their scheme was a total failure, the Cutie Mark Rangers fled as the boulder rammed into the town hall. As the smoke from the debris cleared, Flareon, Twilight, and the others soon appeared. They were shocked at seeing the damage the boulder had caused and immediately tried to figure out what happened. It wasn't long before Flareon was able to put two and two together.

"Wait a moment," Flareon muttered. He then looked at the worried faces of Solana and her friends. "Solana...please don't tell me this is what I think this is." In response, Solana let out a deep sigh. She knew there was no way they were getting out of this mess.

"It's our fault," Solana admitted, "We were the ones who pushed the boulder down the hill and tried to stop it ourselves to make it look like we saved the town hall from being destroyed."

"Solana!" Twilight exclaimed as she couldn't believe own her ears, "Why would you do that?!"

"We weren't getting a lot of calls from Mayor Mare recently, so we decided to make a situation happen ourselves," Apple Bloom replied.

"We're sorry," they muttered together with their heads down.

"Well congratulations you four," Applejack said, "Looks like you did manage to get yourselves a new mission...repairing the town hall." After the Cutie Mark Rangers decided they weren't fit to be superheroes anymore, they slowly took off their helmets and jumpsuits. Once Flareon was able to move the boulder away, the now Cutie Mark Crusaders got to work fixing the damage they accidentally caused to the town hall. In the end, even though Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo didn't get their cutie marks, Solana and her friends learned that being a superhero isn't easy.


	16. Merry Hoofmas

Chapter 16  
Merry Hoofmas

There is just something special about the holidays, especially during Christmas. It's a time when families get together, decorate their houses with lights, putting up the Christmas tree, hanging stocking over the fireplace, baking Christmas cookies, and eating some Christmas dinner. No to mention, during Christmas morning, you rush over to the Christmas tree to check inside your presents to see what Santa Clause brought you. Unless you were naughty, then you relieved coal. No one likes coal. It was Christmas time in Ponyville, or more precisely for them, Hoofmas time. Hoofmas is exactly like Christmas, but for ponies. Like how instead of Santa Clause, they have Santa Hooves. Yes, this show is pretty much filled with pony puns, but by now, you are probably used to it. Ok, enough horseplay, back to the story at hoof. Yes, I'll be here at week, thank you. It was Hoofmas Eve and throughout Equestria, ponies were celebrating the holiday. Everywhere you looked, ponies were in the festive mood. Enemies agreed to a truce and rivals became friends. Even Discord was feeling more cheerful and kind than usual and that's saying something. However, there was one pony that didn't quite have the holiday spirit. That pony's' name was Flareon. It was a cold afternoon in a Ponyville that was covered with a blanket of snow. Golden Oak Library was neatly decorated just like a giant Hoofmas tree. Inside, Twilight, Solana, and Spike were having fun decorating the Hoofmas tree, while Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious assisted. Flareon was reading a book on the couch.

"Come on Flareon," Twilight said, "Why don't you help us decorate the tree?"

"No," Flareon replied without hesitating, "I'm a little busy here." As she was trying to get him to put down his book, Solana went upstairs to get more decorations.

"I bet your excited to find out what Santa Hooves brings you tomorrow!" Twilight said happily. Unfortunately, her attempt to cheer up Flareon was a total failure as he slammed his book shut and got off the couch.

"There is no such thing as Santa Hooves," Flareon replied firmly, "It's just a joke to fool little kids into believing in something that doesn't exist to prove how gullible they are. Back in the human world, we call him Santa Hooves. He doesn't exist either. It's all just a great big lie!" Just as he said that, Flareon turned his head to see Solana with tears in her eyes. It turns out she had listened the entire time. Solana immediately began to cry and dropped the box of decorations to the floor. After she ran back upstairs, Flareon now had to endure Twilight's angry stare.

"Now look what you did Flareon!" Twilight exclaimed angrily as Spike ran upstairs to comfort Solana.

"What are you getting mad at me for?!" Flareon yelled, "It's the truth! Hoofmas is a sham and Santa Hooves doesn't exist! It's best she know that now than discovering it in ten years anyway!" After nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop back and forth arguing, he decided enough was enough. After Flareon put on his coat and scarf, he walked to the front door, and slammed it shut behind him. After Flareon was gone, Twilight went upstairs to check on her daughter. Throughout the rest of the day, Twilight and their friends tried to get Flareon into the holiday mood, but nothing they tried seemed to work. Not even a Hoofmas song that included all the ponies in Ponyville. Instead, the opposite effect occurred as Flareon was more grumpy and annoyed than he was before. When Twilight finally lost her patience with him, she forced Flareon into confessing why he hated Hoofmas so much. Flareon told her that when he was a kid during Christmas night, he heard some noise that woke him up. When Flareon went to check downstairs, instead of seeing Santa Clause, he saw his parents putting the presents under the tree. From that moment on, Flareon slowly lost faith in Christmas to the point where he completely avoided the holiday altogether. After hearing his story, Twilight promised she would leave him alone if that's what he really wanted. As Hoofmas Eve finally came to an end, everyone in Ponyville feel soundly asleep, except for one pony. After four hours of failed attempts, Flareon eventually gave up trying to fall asleep and decided to take a late night stroll into the snowy town to calm his head. After he went downstairs to put on his coat and scarf, Flareon quietly opened the door and went outside. Snowflakes were lightly falling down from the cloudy night sky. After Flareon adjusted his scarf slightly, he activated his fire magic to light his horn and slowly began to walk into town. After fifteen minutes of walking around aimlessly, Flareon decided to visit his statue, which was covered in snow. Just as Flareon was about to return home, he looked up and saw a figure flying through the sky. It began to suddenly descended and appeared to have landed somewhere in the park. Flareon decided to investigate. Once he got to the park, Flareon saw a bearded unicorn in a red suit and hat inside a sleigh that was being pulled by nine reindeers.

"This is the seventh time we've had to stop tonight," he said to the lead reindeer, "Are you sure you can keep going with that cold?"

"Yeah...no problem," the reindeer replied. He then sneezed and slowly wiped his nose. The unicorn let out a deep sigh in response. Flareon cautiously walked up to the stranger.

"Um...excuse me," Flareon muttered, "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well look who it is!" the unicorn chucked, "It's nice to meet you Flareon!"

"Wait...how do you know my name?" Flareon replied baffled, "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Santa Hooves of course!" he chucked again. Unfortunately, Flareon didn't quite believe him.

"Yeah...ok...sure old man," Flareon replied sarcastically, "If your really Santa Hooves, then prove it." The unicorn to his right and his magic to pick out a scroll. After unrolling it slightly, Santa Hooves began to read.

"Let's see...Twilight Sparkle - new telescope, Rainbow Dash - Wonderbolt action figure set, Fluttershy - comfy pet beds, Applejack - new hat, Rarity - diamond necklace, Pinkie Pie - deluxe party kit, Princess Luna - Princess of Equestria, and Solana - I just want my dad to be happy." After Santa Hooves stopped reading, Flareon was at a loss for words.

"Solana...is that what she really wanted? For me to be happy?" Flareon muttered embarrassed.

"That's right," Santa Hooves replied, "As for you Flareon - Demon Sword Keshena Manga."

"How did you know that's what I wanted?!" Flareon exclaimed, "I didn't even bother sending that letter to Santa Hooves along with everyone else nearly two months ago!" At that moment, it finally hit him. This bearded unicorn was no doubt Santa Hooves himself. "You're...Santa Hooves! You're actually the real Santa Hooves!"

"It's about time you figured it out Flareon!" Santa Hooves laughed. Suddenly, the smile on his vanished as he turned to face the reindeer that had a cold. "It's a real shame that my lead reindeer is sick. If we continue on the pace we're on now, I won't able to deliver all the presents tonight. That means some ponies will be disappointed to see the space under their Hoofmas tree empty tomorrow morning." Just as Santa Hooves began to ponder, his eyes instantly lit up. He then turned to face Flareon.

"I know this may be asking much, but Flareon with your horn so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Santa Hooves asked. Seeing as how he acted towards his family and friends today, Flareon agreed on the spot to guide Santa Hooves reindeer for the rest of the night so all the presents could be delivered as scheduled. After Santa Hooves fitted the reigns onto Flareon, he had his lead reindeer sit with him inside the sleigh. Soon after, Flareon and the other reindeer pulled the sleigh high upwards into the air.

"Ho Ho Ho! Merry Hoofmas!" Santa Hooves shouted as the sleigh glided through the night sky. Including Ponyville, Flareon traveled to Cloudsdale, Canterlot, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and all the neighboring towns and cities. In the end, the rest of the presents were successfully delivered. Once they were done, Santa hooves took Flareon back to Ponyville. During Hoofmas morning at Golden Oak Library, Twilight, Solana, and Spike awoke to an ecstatic and cheerful Flareon. None of them could figure out how, in just one night, Flareon's attitude made a complete 180. When they asked him what changed his mind about Hoofmas, Flareon told them it must have been the holiday spirit of Hoofmas that finally got to him. Before they were able to respond, Flareon hugged all three of them and apologized for his behavior during Hoofmas Eve. The rest of Hoofmas day was one Flareon would never forget.


	17. Wife Switch

Chapter 17  
Wife Switch

It seems like only yesterday Flareon and Twilight Sparkle were married. Years later, their daughter Solana is now seven years old and has grown into a fine young filly. Throughout their time together, Flareon and Twilight have had their highs and lows, but no matter what happened, their bond of everlasting love remained strong. Back when Flareon was given a choice to choose between six ponies to marry, he picked Twilight. Not once has Flareon ever regretted that decision. You may be wondering, what if Flareon choose Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity or Pinkie Pie instead of Twilight? Luckily for you, that question would soon be answered by the way of a 'What-If Potion'. It all began one sunny afternoon in Ponyville. Flareon, Twilight, and their friends in the park and laying on their backs in the grass, looking up at the clouds above, trying to figure out what shapes the clouds reminded them of. Just as Pinkie Pie was finished describing how a small cloud looked like a Mariachi Band, Rainbow Dash suddenly asked Flareon a question that completely took him by surprise.

"Hey Flareon. I was wondering...who was your second choice to marry after Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked as she turned on her side to face Flareon. Just before he was able to reply, everyone also turned on their sides to see what his answer was going to be.

"What's with the sudden interest?" Flareon replied.

"Oh...I'm just curious is all," Rainbow Dash muttered, "I mean...if you want don't say, that's fine...I understand." It wasn't long before she began to fall into her own trap.

"Do you really want to know?" Flareon replied with a small smirk.

"Yes!" everyone shouted together.

"Ok, ok, ok," Flareon said as he tried to calm them down. He then took a deep breath. "Rainbow Dash." In response, Rainbow Dash began to blush furiously as she couldn't believe her own ears.

"Um...thanks," Rainbow Dash muttered embarrassed. Even though they wanted to know what his third and fourth choice was, Flareon refused to answer, though he accidentally let it slip that Fluttershy was third. Just then, Twilight got an idea.

"We'll...if you five really want to know what it would have been like if Flareon had married you, we could go to see Zecora and ask her to make a What-If Potion," Twilight suggested. After the girls agreed to Twilight's suggestion, much to his chagrin, Flareon and the others got up and headed for Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest. Later on, they were busy helping Zecora make the What-If Potion inside her giant cauldron. After they asked Zecora if she could make them a What-If Potion, Zecora agreed only if they helped her make the potion in return since it was very complicated. Thirty minutes later, they finally completed the potion as it turned bright green. As Flareon and the others gathered around the cauldron, Zecora told them how the What-If Potion worked.

"Once you stare into the cauldron and ask your question...the answer will appear," Zecora said as Flareon looked down into the cauldron as everyone watched in anticipation.

"What would my life be like if I had married either Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, or Pinkie Pie," Flareon said as the potion suddenly turned transparent, like looking into a portal to another world. A second later, something started to come into view. About an hour later, after viewing what Flareon's life have been like it he had married someone other than Twilight, Flareon let out a sigh of relief that the nightmare was finally over. Being married to Rainbow Dash would have made him a speed freak, Fluttershy would have made him timid and shy, Applejack would have made him a country cowboy, Rarity would have made him a fashion guru, and Pinkie Pie would have made him crazy and hyper. Similar to Flareon, Solana would have turned out like him for each one. Thankfully, being married to Twilight allowed him to keep his personality instead of it being changed. After the potion turned back to its original green, Flareon turned to face Twilight and kissed her.

"I'm glad I made the right choice," Flareon said as Twilight blushed in response as she hugged him.

"Me too," Twilight replied as she held him close. Just as they were enjoying being married, Pinkie Pie put stared down into the cauldron with glowing eyes.

"What would it be like if we were humans?" Pinkie Pie asked. Unfortunately, before the potion was able to answer her question, Flareon quickly pulled her back.

"Hold on Pinkie Pie! Hold on!" Flareon yelled, "Wait for the Full Throttle movie to come out ok? We don't need to see any spoilers!"

"I can't wait that long!" Pinkie Pie cried out in desperation. However, even against her barrage of puppy dog eyed pleas, he wouldn't bunch.

"Be patient!" Flareon replied as Pinkie Pie lowered her head down in response. After Flareon and the others said goodbye to Zecora, they left her hut and traveled back to Ponyville to eat lunch. In the end, Flareon was glad he married Twilight, even though his friends thought that their life if they had married him was better than he said it was. For some reason, Flareon felt like he somehow dodged a bullet, or more precisely, five bullets. For you the readers out there, Full Throttle is an animated movie where Flareon and Twilight become humans after going through a portal to the human world. It will take place after season 3 and just like Pinkie Pie, you will have to wait to read it. However, I will give you a hint about Full Throttle. Consider it an early Christmas present from me. The main theme will be underground street racing. Be prepared, because it will be one hell of a ride!


	18. Finders Keepers

Chapter 18  
Finders Keepers

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned treasure hunt? No one, that's who! The best part is when you actually find the treasure. However, if you're in a group instead of by yourself, things can get pretty hectic when everyone starts to fight over the treasure. It's very hard to resist the enticing beauty of a chest full of gold and it can destroy friendships in a blink of an eye. It all began one morning in Ponyville. Flareon was searching for a book to read when he accidently dropped a book from the stack he was carrying. After it hit the floor, something came out of the book. It seemed to be an old crumpled piece of paper and a bronze key. As Flareon went to pick them up, he was surprised to find out the paper was an actually a treasure map. After closer inspection, Flareon discovered it looked like a map of Ponyville with some part of the Everfree Forest on it. Immediately, Flareon's heart began to race in anticipation of finding out what was located at the big X.

"Hey Twilight!" Flareon yelled in excitement, "Want to go on a treasure hunt?!"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked as she walked into the room. When Twilight saw the treasure map, she began to get as excited as Flareon was. "Hold on! I'll go contact our friends so we can all go together! It'll be so much fun!" Just as Twilight had promised, Rainbow Dash and the others soon arrived. After everyone was ready, Flareon began to read the first clue on the map.

"You must collect five keys if you wish to open the sacred treasure chest. To find the second key, you must satisfy your sweet tooth," Flareon said. He then looked up and turned to his left. "Pinkie Pie...I think you should know this one."

"Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. They quickly began to follow her as she hopped towards their destination to find the second of five keys. After they arrived at Sugarcube Corner, Flareon pulled out the treasure map.

"The key is combined with the lime," Flareon muttered. As they began to ponder the riddle, Pinkie Pie's eyes suddenly lit up. She then ran over to the pie shelf and picked up a pie. After she brought it back over to them, they were able to see that it was a Key Lime Pie.

"Good job Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said as they began to eat the pie until it was all gone. On the bottom of the tray was a bronze key. As Twilight put the second key in her bag, Flareon began to read the second clue.

"To find the third key, you must dress for success," Flareon said. In response, Rarity flaunted her mane.

"Follow me everyone," Rarity said. Soon after, they left Sugarcube Corner and headed to their next destination, Carousel Boutique. After they arrived inside Rarity's house, Flareon pulled out the map again.

"A gem among gems," Flareon read. Right away, Rarity walked to her room. The others quickly followed her.

"That map must be talking about my gem box," Rarity said as she went to her dresser as picked up a pearl white box. Once she opened it, a key was resting on top of the colored gems. "Your welcome." She then gave Twilight the key, who put it in her bag along with the rest. Now they had three of the fives keys.

"Hurry up Flareon! What's the next clue?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she began to shake him.

"Calm down Rainbow Dash!" Flareon yelled as he tried to push her off him so he could read the map, "It says...to find the fourth key, you must go to the place where food is grown."

"Come on y'all," Applejack said, "We're off to Apple Acres!" Soon after, they left Carousel Boutique and headed to Apple Acres. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the farm. After Flareon pulled out the map, he began to read the fourth clue.

"If the key is what you seek, you must get down n' dirty," Flareon read.

"Obviously, it must be talking about the mud pit where the pigs are at," Applejack said. A few seconds later, they made it to the pig pen.

"Well...this is your specialty Applejack," Rarity said while keeping as far back as possible from the mud, "Go get 'em!" Not paying any attention to Rarity's words, Applejack jumped into the mud pit. As a result, mud flew everywhere, and nearly hit Rarity in the face as she managed to duck just in time. The others however, weren't as lucky. They quickly wiped the mud off their faces as Applejack was searching for the key. Eventually, she managed to find the fourth key after much mud slinging. For some reason, most of it was aimed at Rarity. After Applejack gave the key to Twilight, Flareon began to read the final clue.

"To find the fifth key, you must get educated," Flareon read. Soon after, they headed towards the final key location, the Ponyville Schoolhouse. After they made it, Flareon pulled out the map again.

"The key is located where the beginning and end of the school day is signaled," Flareon read.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed, "Go check the bell on top of the school!" Immediately, Rainbow Dash flew to the school bell and a moment later, she returned with the final key. Now that they had obtained five keys, all that was left for them to do was to find the treasure chest and unlock it.

"Now that you have all five keys, the treasure you seek is located in the Everfree Forest," Flareon read. He then looked at everyone's eager and excited faces. "Well then...let's go!" Soon after, they traveled to the Everfree Forest in search for the treasure chest. Rain clouds were beginning to form in the sky. After thirty minutes of following the path to the X marked on the map, they eventually made it to the treasure's location.

"Dig Pinkie Pie!" Rarity yelled as she was beginning to droll in anticipation of obtaining the treasure, "Dig for your life!" Immediately, Pinkie Pie began to dig like a hyper gopher. A few seconds later, a treasure chest flew into the air and landed before them. Followed shortly after was an ecstatic dirt covered Pinkie Pie. After Twilight took out the five keys from her bag, they quickly put each key into the five locks and opened the treasure chest. Their eyes quickly began to glow in awe as sparkling gold trinkets were seen glittering before them. Unfortunately, that began to lit an unnecessary fire between the seven ponies. How were they going to split the treasure equally?

"Thank you for helping me get my treasure!" Rarity exclaimed as she attempted to reach out with her right hoof, but it was quickly swatted away by Applejack.

"I think you mean my treasure!" Applejack angrily replied.

"You two are crazy! It's my treasure!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"I think I should have it...please?" Fluttershy muttered.

"No!" everyone yelled. A few seconds later, a scuffle broke out as the seven ponies were seen fighting each other over who would get the treasure. As they were fighting, rain drops began to fall from the sky, and not a moment later, it began to pour down. What happened next was so shocking, it immediately stopped their squabble. The once gold treasure was now silver, or in other words, absolute junk. It seemed that the treasure all long was just painted with gold. Once they were doused in water, they returned to their original state. Flareon, Twilight, and the others were completely dumbfounded, not to mention, furious.

"We did all this for junk!" Rarity yelled.

"Who's responsible for this?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Meanwhile, at the Cutie Mark Crusader's tree house, Solana and her friends were hanging out together while waiting for the rain to stop so they could go out and play.

"Hey Solana," Apple Bloom said as she watched the rain fall outside, "What did you do with that treasure map? Weren't we supposed to find the keys to unlock the treasure chest that we buried in the Everfree Forest with the fake treasure so we could get out treasure hunter cutie marks?" Solana was busy coloring in coloring book when she stopped to look up at Apple Bloom.

"Oh that? Um...I actually forgot what I did with that thing," Solana replied, "Sorry."

"That's ok Solana," Scootaloo said as she was playing UNO with Sweetie Belle, "We probably weren't going to get cutie marks for finding treasure that we buried ourselves in the first place." As they let out a bored sigh wishing the rain would stop, they were completely unaware that seven ponies were sitting down devastated in the rain while staring at a treasure chest full of junk. You know what they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but as Rarity would say, gold is gold, diamonds are diamonds, and junk is dirty, useless, hideous junk.


	19. Bend It Like Flareon

Chapter 19  
Bend It Like Flareon

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. That is a well-known fact. It is also a very simple and easy to learn sport. Not to mention hard to master. Anyone, young or old, can learn to play Soccer. Unfortunately, soccer didn't exist in Equestria, but similar to baseball and hockey, it was about time Soccer was introduced to the MLP World. It began one carefree afternoon in Ponyville. Solana was watching TV and in complete awe of a sport where humans chased after someone kicking a black and white ball. After one team scored the ball into a netted goal, the word goal would be screamed by the announcer for at least five seconds straight. It wasn't long before Solana became so interested, she decided to have her dad, the ex-human, to teach her how to play Soccer. Solana quickly turned off the TV and headed back to the main room, where she saw Flareon reaching a book.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Solana exclaimed, "Can you teach me how to play the ball sport where humans kick it around and shoot it into goals? Please?!"

"Oh wait...you mean Soccer right?" Flareon asked, "Alright...I guess your old man can show you and thing or to. I don't mean to brag, but I did play some Soccer in Junior High." After Flareon put his book away, he went into the garage and designed a Soccer ball and a netted goal to practice with. Once he was finished, Flareon took them out to the front yard where Solana was eagerly waiting. After Flareon taught Solana the basics of Soccer, he decided to teach her a special move.

"Solana...what I'm about to show you is the Ultimate Soccer Technique, the Super Right Curve Kick," Flareon said, "This is just between me and you ok?" After Solana promised not to teach anyone else this technique, Flareon smiled as he patted her on the head. He then put the Soccer ball in front of him and started to run fast. Just as he got near the goal, Flareon hit the ball into the air with his muzzle. He quickly jumped up and used his right back hoof to hit the ball. At first it seemed like the ball was going to miss its target, but suddenly it curved right and went directly into the goal perfectly. In response, Solana gasped in awe of seeing Flareon nail the shot. She rushed to get the ball and brought it back. Solana then attempted the Super Right Curve Kick, but just as she hit the ball into the air with her muzzle, Solana mistimed the kick. As a result, she fell right onto her butt.

"Drat," Solana muttered as she rubbed her sore behind.

"Don't worry Solana," Flareon said, "It took me awhile to master it too. Just keep practicing and I'm sure you'll get it." After Flareon went back inside, Solana continued to practice her Soccer techniques, including the Super Right Curve Kick. Hours later, night fell, and Twilight was eventually forced to get Flareon to convince Solana to come back inside. She was so eager to show everyone her Soccer skills at school tomorrow that it took Solana two hours until she finally fell asleep. The next day at school, Solana had brought her Soccer ball with her and was showing off her Soccer skills during recess. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all impressed beyond belief, including her fellow classmates and Cheerilee, except for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Wow Solana! So cool!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Cheerilee asked.

"My dad taught me," Solana replied as she kept hitting the ball in perfect succession with her behind.

"Can he teach us too?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Um...ok! I'm sure he won't mind," Solana replied, "After school, whoever wants to learn how to play Soccer, come with me to my house!" As everyone cheered exited to be learning a human sport, Diamond Tiara simply scuffed at the idea.

"I don't have time to bother with such nonsense," Diamond Tiara said. Unfortunately, the only pony who was paying attention to her was Silver Spoon as the others were still mesmerized by Solana's athleticism. As a result, Diamond Tiara walked away with Silver Spoon close behind her. After school ended, everyone who wanted to learn Soccer followed Solana back to her house. As Flareon opened the door, he couldn't believe how many ponies wanted to learn Soccer.

"Wow...I didn't expect this may ponies would be interested in learning about Soccer," Flareon said, "Ok...hold on though, I need to make more goals and Soccer balls. Then after I'm done, we'll go to the park to practice." Rainbow Dash, who was visiting at the time, was also interested, so she decided to come with them. After Flareon was done making the goals and Soccer balls, he took them to the park where Flareon taught them how to play Soccer. Solana also teach them too. About three days later of practice, Flareon decided they were ready for an actual game. That's when Rainbow Dash got an idea.

"Hey Flareon," Rainbow Dash said, "Remember how we're tied 1-1? You won the baseball game and I won the hockey game, so this Soccer game will be the tie-breaker!"

"Oh right...I forgot about that," Flareon replied, "Well then...I guess we'd better split them into teams." After some discussion, Flareon's team would consist of Solana, Apple Bloom, and nine others, while Rainbow Dash's team would consist of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and nine others. Solana and Scootaloo would be the Center Forwards, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would be the Goal Keepers. Flareon's team would be called the Red Angels and Rainbow Dash's team would be called the Blue Devils. After everything was decided, Flareon got everyone together.

"Ok...so now that everything is decided on, the game will take place here tomorrow after school at 3pm," Flareon said, "I'll have everything set up by the time school is done." As the Solana and the others cheered happily, they left the park and returned home. None of them could contain their excitement for the first ever Soccer game in Equestria and just like Solana, it took them awhile to fall asleep. Even though it seemed like forever, the next school day finally ended. Right as the school bell rang, Solana, her friends, and her classmates, rushed over to the park. Just as they made it there, they were happy to see that two netted goals up and ready. Flareon was standing by a bag of Soccer balls.

"Oh good! You guys are here!" Flareon said, "We just need to wait for Rainbow Dash to arrive." Eventually, their coach finally made it to the park.

"Sorry I'm late everyone!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she tried to caught her breath, "So what are we waiting for? Let the game begin!" As everyone began to cheer, Flareon was able to calm them down enough so that they could start the Soccer game. After Flareon won the coin toss, he choose the east goal for his team and Rainbow Dash would get the west goal. After Flareon placed the ball in the middle of the field, both Solana and Scootaloo ran towards it at full speed. Scootaloo was the one who got to it first and immediately kicked it away from Solana as the first ever Soccer game in Equestria was off to a roaring start. The first half of the game ended in a 0-0 tie as both teams were playing great defense, especially Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They weren't letting anything get past them. During the fifteen minute break, they had some juice drinks that Twilight and the others had brought over. After the break was over, they wished both teams luck as the second half was set to begin. It wasn't long after the game began that the Blue Devils were the first team to score thanks to Scootaloo finally get a ball past Apple Bloom. Now the Blue Devils led the Red Angels 1-0. Nearly eighteen minutes later, just as the second half was almost over, Solana made a spectacular goal on Sweetie Belle as the Red Angels were now tied with the Blue Devils 1-1. Since the game was get close to being over, both teams were going all-out to get the game winning goal. Just then, Scootaloo stole the ball from Solana and attempted to score the winning goal, but her attempted was blocked as Apple Bloom was able to knock the ball away just in time. With a minute left, after Solana was passed the ball by a teammate, she decided it was now or never. Solana then quickly began to run at high speed towards the goal. After she got close, Solana hit the ball into the air with her muzzle over a baffled Scootaloo. Just like her dad, Solana was able to pull off a near identical Super Right Curve Kick. Sadly for Sweetie Belle, the wicked curve the ball made took her by complete surprise, and she wasn't able to make it to the ball in time as it went flying past her right into the goal. Before Solana knew it, she was suddenly lifted into the air by Apple Bloom and her fellow teammates. The Red Angels defeated the Blue Devils 2-1. As Flareon watched his team celebrate their victory, Rainbow Dash appeared by him with her right hoof held out. "Well...congratulations Flareon," Rainbow Dash muttered, "You won the tie-breaker. I'm a pony of my words...I admit defeat."

"Thanks, but I think there are two ponies who should be congratulating instead of me," Flareon said as he pointed behind her. After Rainbow Dash turned around, Solana and Scootaloo were standing before her.

"Of course...congratulations Solana and Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said as she shook their hooves, "You two did a great job!" As Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo went over to talk to her team, Flareon walked over to Solana and hugged her.

"Just like I taught you," Flareon whispered to her, "I'm proud of you." He then put Solana on her back and agreed with Twilight to take everyone out for a celebration dinner for both teams playing a great game. You know what they say, like father, like daughter.


	20. Operation Save Rich's Barnyard Bargains

Chapter 20  
Operation Save Rich's Barnyard Bargains

For whatever reason, Diamond Tiara hates Solana, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. She is evil incarnate in the form of a pony, or that is what Scootaloo refers to her as anyway. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Diamond Tiara have been noted enemies for as long as both sides can remember. Even against Solana's pleas, Diamond Tiara swore she would never be friends with them. That was all about to change. It all began one Thursday afternoon in Ponyville. Solana and her friends had just left their trees house and were just about to say goodbye to each other, when they happened to see Diamond Tiara talking to her mom and dad in front of their store called Rich's Barnyard Bargains. They decided to hide among the bushes to safely listen to their conversation.

"Dad? What do you mean...going out of business?" Diamond Tiara asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry honey," Filthy Rich replied, "It seems like a business deal I had going got corrupted and burned out. A lot of money was lost in the process. Not to mention, the band that was supposed to play at the concert in front of the store cancelled. That was meant to be a fundraiser. If things don't improve soon, I'll have to close down the store."

"What will happen to us?" Diamond Tiara asked in a panicked voice.

"We'll have to move to Manehattan where my other store is located," Filthy Rich replied. Diamond Tiara wasn't happy about the idea of moving at all.

"No! I don't want to move!" she yelled, "What about Silver Spoon? I won't have any friends there!"

"I'm sorry daughter," Glamorous said as she patted a teary-eyed Diamond Tiara on her head, "There's nothing else we can do. I'm sure you will be able to make more friends in Manehattan." In response, Diamond Tiara began to cry as Glamorous led her back home. After Filthy Rich saw them walk away, he turned back to face his store and let out an exhausted sigh. Meanwhile, Solana and the others were contemplating on what they just heard.

"Good riddance!" Apple Bloom exclaimed happily, "With her gone, things will be a lot better around here!" Unfortunately, her friends didn't see it like she did.

"I kind of feel sorry for her," Solana said, "I mean...Silver Spoon is her friend. If Diamond Tiara moves to Manehattan, she won't see her again."

"I agree with Solana," Sweetie Belle replied, "I know Diamond Tiara can be a heartless witch, but even she doesn't deserve that to happen to her."

"As much as I hate to admit it...I would actually miss Diamond Tiara if she moved away," Scootaloo said. After hearing from them, Apple Bloom began to change her mind. After some discussion, the Cutie Mark Crusaders agreed there had to be something they could do to help Diamond Tiara and her family, so they decided to approach Filthy Rich.

"Excuse me sir," Solana muttered, "We accidentally overheard your conversation. Is there anything we can do to help save your store?"

"Oh hello. You must be my daughter's classmates from school. Well...if you knew a band that could preform at the concert here Monday, I would be very grateful," Filthy Rich replied, "If not...I'll have to cancel the concert and close down the store for good." Unfortunately, neither of them knew a band personally, but suddenly, Solana remembered she did know a pony who played the guitar.

"Sir! I think I may know I band that can play Monday!" Solana exclaimed happily. In response, Filthy Rich was overcome with joy.

"You do? Great! Tell them the concert is set for Monday afternoon at 1pm! If all goes well, it might be possible to save this store!" Filthy Rich replied. After he waved goodbye to them, Filthy Rich left to return home.

"Wait...you know a band?" Scootaloo asked baffled, "When did this happen? Don't tell me...it's the Neon Hooves! Right?"

"Sorry...no, but I don't know someone that can play the guitar really well," Solana replied, "My dad! Maybe he can help us!" After the others agreed to Solana's plan, they quickly followed her back to home. As they banged on the door of Golden Oak Library, Flareon opened it and was greeted by four anxious fillies.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Solana exclaimed, "We need your help! Can you play at a concert in front of Rich's barnyard Bargains Monday afternoon at 1pm? Please?!"

"A concert you say?" Flareon asked as he pondered for a few seconds, "I'll tell you what...I'll have Twilight contact our friends to meet up with us at Apple Acres tomorrow morning. I want you four to get every musical instrument you can find and bring them to Apple Acres."

"What for dad?" Solana asked eagerly.

"Let's just say I have a plan," Flareon replied with a smirk. Shortly after, Solana and her friends split-up to find some instruments, while Flareon went back inside to inform Twilight about telling their friends where they were going to up tomorrow morning. After the Cutie Mark Crusaders found the instruments, they decided to put them inside the barn at Apple Acres for safekeeping. The next morning, everyone managed to show up to Apple Acres as scheduled. Flareon then helped Solana and the Cutie Mark Crusaders bring out the instruments from inside the barn. Twilight and the others could see a base guitar, trumpet, saxophone, tambourine, electronic keyboard, and a drum set, along with Flareon's electric guitar.

"What's all this for Flareon? Why did you call us here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm putting a band together to play at the concert in front of Rich's Barnyard Bargains," Flareon replied, "I need all of you, including Twilight and Solana, to preform with me. The problem is we have to be ready by Monday, so that means we only have three days to practice." After they looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement, they turned back to face Flareon.

"Alright...we're in," Twilight replied. A few seconds later, everyone went over to choose their instrument. Solana choose the electric keyboard, Rainbow Dash choose the base guitar, Fluttershy choose the trumpet, Applejack choose the drums, Rarity choose the saxophone, and Pinkie Pie choose the tambourine. However, there was one pony who didn't find her instrument.

"Hey Flareon...what am I going to play?" Twilight asked.

"You're going to be the lead singer," Flareon replied. She was completely taken aback.

"What?! Me? Um...I'm not sure I can be a singer," Twilight muttered.

"Come on Twilight," Flareon replied with a smile as she softly put his right hoof on her shoulder, "I've heard you sing before. You're amazing! I know you can do it." In response, Twilight began to blush. Not long after, she agreed to be the lead singer in the band. "So...what should we call ourselves?" It was Rainbow Dash who responded.

"How about...the Spitfires?" Rainbow Dash suggested. Almost immediately, everyone agreed to calling the band the Spitfires.

"Nice one Rainbow Dash," Flareon replied, "The Spitfires...I like it." After everyone set up the instruments, Flareon picked up his guitar. "Ok everyone...we only till Monday to practice, so let's do our best!" Twilight and the others cheered in response as they soon got to work learning how to play their instruments. Nearly twelve hours later, Flareon decided to call it a day. After they put the instruments back into the barn, everyone went home to rest in preparation for tomorrow's practice session. Sadly, even after another day of practice, it didn't seem like the progress was picking up at all. It was now Sunday afternoon and still, no one was improving. Even Flareon was about to give up hope they could pull it out, until Solana decided to speak up.

"We can't give up yet!" Solana cried out, "I really want to help Diamond Tiara!"

"Wait...I thought you two didn't like each other," Flareon replied.

"Well...I know she can be a mean bully sometimes, but I still want to help her out. That's why we have to keep trying," Solana said without hesitation. Thanks to her speech, everyone's confidence was instantly boosted. It was almost like nothing could stop them.

"Solana's right," Applejack replied, "We've got this far, giving up now would be pointless." As they got into position again, Flareon put his guitar back on and smiled.

"Ok then! Let's do it!" Flareon exclaimed as the other cheered with him, "1...2...3!" Even though it was hard to believe, they had suddenly started to get better and better, even up to the point where they were able to play the song perfectly. As the day finally ended, Flareon was confident that the concert would go on without a hitch. After they put the instruments back in the barn, everyone went home to sleep in preparation of the big day tomorrow. The next day, Flareon and the others brought the instruments to Rich's Barnyard Bargains where a concert stage was already set up. Even as they were preparing the instruments, ponies were already beginning to arrive, including Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. After Filthy Rich wished them good luck, he returned to the money booth where Glamorous and Diamond Tiara were waiting with empty boxes. It wasn't long before they heard Mayor Mare addressing the crowd behind the curtain.

"Thank you for attending the fundraiser here today for our beloved Rich's Barnyard Bargains," Mayor Mare stated proudly, "Now for the main event you'll all been waiting for...the Spitfires!" After she walked off the stage, the curtains moved away, and right away, Twilight began to sing as Flareon and the others played along with her. Things couldn't have gone better as the song they were singing impressed the crowd so much, Filthy Rich and his family were running out of boxes to put the fundraising money inside. Overall, they would end up easily surpassing the money necessary for saving Rich's Barnyard Bargains, with even more money to spare. After the Spitfires were done playing their song, the crowd began to chant for an encore. Seeing as how they didn't want to disappoint them, Flareon and the others began to play the song over again. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo walked over to Diamond Tiara, who was watching the Spitfires preform.

"Hey Diamond Tiara! Looks like your dad's store is saved!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she saw Filthy Rich hug his overjoyed wife.

"Why did you do this for me and my family?" Diamond Tiara asked. She still couldn't believe that they helped her out even though they were sworn enemies.

"That's what friends are for...duh!" Sweetie Belle replied. Diamond Tiara was starting to get teary-eyed.

"Even after how many times I made fun of you, after all I've done...you still want me to be your friend?" Diamond Tiara asked as tears were slowly falling down her face. Apple Bloom walked over and hugged Diamond Tiara, who hugged her back.

"That's right," Apple Bloom replied, "From now on...we're best friends."

"Can...Silver Spoon be your friend too? Please?" Diamond Tiara muttered as she whipped the tears from her eyes.

"The more friends...the better!" Scootaloo replied with a smile. For the first time, they witnessed Diamond Tiara give them a smile that wasn't a mischievous or smug one. It was a happy, carefree, kind smile. Even as impossible it may seem, miracles do happen, and this was one that Solana, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were very thankful for. Diamond Tiara had finally become friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Filthy Rich and Glamorous couldn't be more happy to see their daughter having fun with her new friends as the Spitfires played in the background.


	21. Pets R Us

Chapter 21  
Pets R Us

If you woke up one day as your pet and your pet as you, would you panic? Would your pet panic? What do you think your pet would do in your body? That question would soon be answered when Flareon, Twilight, and their friends switched bodies with their pets. It all began one peaceful morning in Ponyville. The sun had just rose as ponies everywhere got to work. Meanwhile, in Golden Oak Library, Flareon awoke as he let out a yawn. After Flareon got out of his small bed, he walked over to his water bowl and began to have a drink of water. It didn't take long before Flareon sensed something was off. Why was he sleeping in Chibiterasu's bed and drinking from his water bowl? Also, why did he see Chibiterasu's reflection when he starred into his water bowl? It didn't take long before it finally hit him. He had somehow become Chibiterasu. He then looked at his hooves which were now wolf paws.

"Ok...hold on a minute. This can't be right," Chibiterasu said. He quickly ran over to where Twilight was sleeping soundly, "Twilight! Twilight! Wake up! Something strange happened to me!" To his surprise, Owlowiscious was the one who responded.

"What's wrong Flareon?" Owlowiscious replied. When she looked down, Owlowiscious saw Chibiterasu staring back at her. "Um...Chibiterasu? Did you just talk to me?"

"Wait...Twilight?! Is that you? Why are you Owlowiscious?!" Chibiterasu exclaimed. She just looked at him completely dumbfounded like he was crazy.

"Owlowiscious? What are you talking about?" Owlowiscious replied. It didn't take long before Twilight noticed something wasn't quite right. Why was she resting on Owlowiscious's perch? Why did she have wings instead of hooves? Also, why did she see herself still sleeping in her bed with Flareon. When it finally hit her that she was in Owlowiscious's body, she let out a loud hoot that woke up the other Flareon and Twilight, or in other words, the real Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious. When they figured out they were inside Flareon and Twilight's body, they began to scream, which woke up Solana and Spike, who were confused as to why Flareon and Twilight were panicking, while Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious were barking and hooting at them.

"What the heck is going on here?" Spike said. Suddenly, he was tackled by Flareon, who was panting like a dog.

"Spike! Spike! Spike!" Flareon cried out, "Why am I in my master's body?" Before Spike could answer, Twilight pushed Flareon off him.

"Excuse me Sir Spike, but why am I Twilight Sparkle and why is Twilight Sparkle me?" Twilight asked concerned, "I would like an answer in no less than ten seconds please." After five minutes of chaotic confusion, Spike was trying to make sure he understood the situation clearly.

"Ok...so from what I can figure out, Flareon and Twilight switched bodies with Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious," Spike stated.

"How did this happen anyway?" Solana asked. Before her question was answered, they suddenly heard knocking coming from the front door. As Solana and Spike rushed downstairs to open it, they were surprised to see Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with their pets. Immediately, everyone rushed inside and both ponies and pets began to talk at the same time. This time it took ten minutes of chaotic confusion for Solana and Spike to calm everyone down.

"Hold on! Just Hold on!" Spike yelled, "Ok...what is everyone yelling about? We're already trying to figure out why Flareon and Twilight switched bodies with Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious. That's hard enough to deal with as it is." Soon after, it turns out that Flareon and Twilight weren't the only ones who switched bodies with their pets. It turns out Rainbow Dash was now Tank, Fluttershy was Angel, Applejack was Winona, Rarity was Opalescence, Pinkie Pie was Gummy, and vise versa. "Flareon! Sorry, I mean Chibi...how did this happen? I mean...what could have caused everyone to switch bodies with their pets? It just doesn't make any sense," Spike said.

"Alright Chibiterasu...jokes over," Tank muttered angrily, "Change us back now or so help me...I'm hovering over there and biting you with this toothless jaw!"

"I swear I had nothing to do with this!" Chibiterasu pleaded desperately in response to six animals staring at him menacingly. Sadly for Chibi, they were reluctant to trust him.

"So...now what do we do?" Solana asked.

"I say us pets go out and have the best day of our lives!" Applejack exclaimed, "This is a gift we received and we're going to put it to good use! Who's with me?!" As her comrades cheered with her, they left the house before Chibiterasu and the others were able to stop them. As they stared blankly at the door where their bodies had ran through, Solana looked at the clock on the wall and realized that school was about to start.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" Solana exclaimed as she put on her school bag, "Sorry Mom, dad, everyone...I'll be back later. Bye!" After Solana left for school, Spike also decided to leave the house and head for the Gem Quarry to search for gems.

"Have fun you guys," Spike said as he opened the door, "Hopefully your pets don't cause too much trouble in your bodies." After Spike closed the door behind him, Chibiterasu and the others were rendered speechless as they were left all alone in their new pet bodies. Their pets however, were having their times of their lives. Flareon and his friends went to as many places as they could, including the bowling alley, ice skating rink, arcade, the park, and last but not least, the amusement park, where they went on all the rides. After they were wiped out, they decided to have some cotton candy.

"Oh wow! This cotton candy stuff is so good!" Applejack exclaimed as she bit off another piece.

"Being a pony is awesome! We can do things we couldn't do as pets," Flareon said, "I wonder how our owners are doing in our bodies?"

"I bet they are just laying around at Golden Oak Library!" Twilight laughed. As the others joined in laughing, it actually turns out Twilight was spot on as Chibiterasu and the others were at Golden Oak Library laying around trying to figure out what to do.

"This is ridiculous!" Opalescence cried out, "When are our pets coming back with our bodies? I'm already behind on my work as it is!"

"I still say this is all Flareon's fault," Tank muttered angrily.

"I told you I had nothing to do with this!" Chibiterasu replied.

"I believe Flareon," Owlowiscious said proudly backing up her husband, "If he said he didn't do it, he didn't do it."

"Ditto," Winona replied.

"The problem is how do we return back to our bodies?" Owlowiscious asked. Unfortunately, no one had an answer to her question. During the rest of the day, the pets had the best time they ever had, while their owners had the worst day they ever had. Eventually, Flareon and the others returned to Golden Oak Library to take their owners back home. As night fell, everyone got into their beds and went to sleep. Flareon and Twilight feel sleep almost instantly, while Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious took longer to fall asleep. The next morning, Flareon and Twilight woke up and were shocked, not to mention relieved, to discover they had returned to their bodies. The same thing happened to Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious. As a result, an overjoyed Flareon and Twilight hugged each other, while Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious let out a disappointed sigh as their fun was finally over. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and the rest of their friends, including their pets, discovered they had also returned to their bodies. You could call this a miracle or a bizarre event, but whatever the case, yesterday was a day neither owner or pet would never forget.


	22. DJ For A Day

Chapter 22  
DJ For A Day

To be a DJ you need to have the heart and soul that can flow with the music. It's not as easy as you think and not everyone is cut out to be a DJ. However, there are some hidden prodigies out there that have the talent to be a DJ and don't even know it. Vinyl Scratch is the most talented and skilled DJ in Equestria. There isn't a pony alive that doesn't know about her legend as a DJ. If you had a party, the first pony you would invite is Vinyl Scratch. Her younger brother, Party Bash, would be second on that list. It wouldn't be long before Flareon discovered his hidden DJ talent. It all began one afternoon in Ponyville. Vinyl Scratch was walking through town with her right hoof in bandages. It turns out the day before, she injured her hoof while extreme paragliding with her younger brother. The problem was that she was scheduled to DJ at a club called Retro City in two days. The doctor had told Vinyl Scratch that her recovery time was at least a week. There was no doubt she was in a tight spot.

"What am I going to do now?" Vinyl Scratch muttered, "I can let all those ponies down who are counting on me, but I don't know another DJ who can take my place." Just then, she spotted Flareon flying above her. If there was anyone a pony could count on in desperate times, it was him. "Hey Flareon! Flareon! I need to talk to you!"

"What's up?" Flareon asked as he landed before her, "Wait...aren't you that famous DJ Vinyl Scratch? What happened to your hoof?"

"Oh this? I...uh...injured it while extreme paragliding. I'm so embarrassed. Anyway...can I ask you a favor Flareon? Have you ever preformed as a DJ?" Vinyl Scratch replied.

"DJ? No...sorry," Flareon said, "Though...I always wanted to be one."

"I'll tell you what. I can train you to be one so you could replace me if you're up for it. I'm scheduled to preform at Retro City Wednesday and I have no one to cover for me. I could really use your help," Vinyl Scratch replied. After Flareon promised to help her, she brought him over to her house, which looked like one wicked party house designed for a DJ. After they went inside, Flareon saw a bunch of DJ equipment everywhere, including a DJ table that Vinyl Scratch made herself. This was one impressive house, that was for sure. "Well...I only got three days to get you ready, so let's get started," Vinyl Scratch said as Flareon followed her over to the DJ table. It wasn't long before they started, Vinyl Scratch was beginning to notice something very impressive. Flareon had some mad DJ skill. "Holy cow dude! You're not bad for a rookie! I have to say...you might be a DJ prodigy! I've never seen anyone with skill like you have! I'm amazed!"

"Oh come on...I'm ok," Flareon replied completely flustered, "Still though...you actually think I have the potential to be one?"

"Definitely," Vinyl Scratch said with a smile, "If you keep this up, you'll definitely be ready by Wednesday night! Now then...back to work." After nearly three days of practice, Vinyl Scratch was positive that Flareon was going to lit up Retro City. Her hope would soon put to the test when Wednesday night finally came. As Flareon and Vinyl Scratch made it to the club, he could tell right away that Retro City lived up to its name as the best club it town. The line of ponies waiting to get inside proved how famous it was. They walked to the side of the club where a bulky security pony was guarding a door.

"There she is! Vinyl Scratch!" the pony exclaimed as they shared a brohoof, "What happened to your hoof?"

"Ah well...you know Zen. I'm a crazy party girl. Let's just leave it at that," Vinyl Scratch replied. He then looked at Flareon.

"Who's your new boyfriend Vinyl Scratch?" Zen chuckled.

"He's not my boyfriend Zen. Your looking at the DJ who's replacing me tonight. I have to warn you, Flareon's one heck of a DJ prodigy!" Vinyl Scratch proudly stated. In response, Zen shared a brohoof with Flareon.

"Nice to meet you Flareon," Zen said, "If you're really as good as Vinyl Scratch says, I have no doubt this place will be rockin' in no time." Shortly after, Zen opened the door and Flareon and Vinyl Scratch went inside. As he looked around, there was a huge multi-colored dance floor in the middle, which a bar section to the left, and a relax lounge on the right. A crystal party ball was hanging above the dance floor. Flareon then spotted the DJ table on the far north wall. As they were getting it prepared, ponies were starting to enter the club. Amongst them was Twilight, Spike, and his friends. They had come to witness Flareon's first ever performance as a DJ.

"Good luck Flareon," Vinyl Scratch said as she patted Flareon on the shoulder, "I know your going to do awesome!" She then headed to where Twilight and the others were at. It wasn't before the lights turned off and the club owner, Vinyl Scratch's younger brother Party Bash, started to address the crowd with his microphone.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What is up everyone? Who's ready to party tonight?!" Party Bash exclaimed as the crowd cheered loudly in response, "Now then...please give a warm welcome to a new upcoming DJ...the one and only chosen one...Flareon!" Suddenly, the lights focused on Flareon, including all the ponies in the room. He then put on his headset and sunglasses. The heart in his chest was beating fast as his adrenaline was beginning to pick up.

"Let's get this party started!" Flareon yelled as he raised his right hoof high in the air. The crowd immediately cheered loudly for him as the music began to play along with the multi-colored lights began to flash everywhere in the darkened room. Ponies started to dance as Flareon preformed DJ along with the music. He could see Twilight with his friends in the crowd dancing along with everyone. Throughout his time in Equestria, this was going to be a night Flareon would never forget. All in all, Flareon would play to a total of three songs, all of which he preformed amazing. As the night finally came to an end, Flareon was given a hoof-stomping ovation by all the ponies in the club. Even as they were leaving, ponies were still taking about Flareon's DJ performance as one of the best they have ever seen, second to Vinyl Scratch all-time.

"Awesome job dude! Awesome job," Vinyl Scratch said as she and Flareon shared a brohoof, "Now I don't have to worry anymore if I get injured, because I have one heck of a wicked backup."

"This is one ponies will be talking for a long time," Partay Bash said, "Thanks for filling in for my sister." After they left, Flareon was swarmed by Twilight and his friends. Twilight then walked up to Flareon and kissed him.

"Wow...just wow Flareon...that was amazing," Twilight said.

"Awesome is more like it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she high-hoofed him.

"Thanks," Flareon muttered. Once they were finished commenting on how great of a job he did as his first performance as a DJ, they left Retro City and everyone said their goodbyes to each other and went home for the night. In the end, Flareon was given free admission by Party Bash into Retro City for life, including his family too. A lesson that could be learned from this is you may have a hidden talent and not even realize it. Also, extreme paragliding is very dangerous, but don't bother telling that to Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash. I'm telling you, those are two wild and crazy ponies that love to live life on the edge. Extreme is practically their middle name.


	23. Party Hearty

Chapter 23  
Party Hearty

There is nothing more fun than hosting a house party, especially if it's without any parental supervision present. However, that itself can pose many problems such as the party going out of control and not being able to stop it. Not to mention, the consequences if your caught or found out by your parents. Solana and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were about to find out for themselves the pros and cons of hosting their very own party. It all began one Saturday morning in Ponyville. Twilight had just received a let from Princess Celestia asking for her, Flareon, and their friends, to travel to Canterlot to help with some important royal business for the weekend. After the others arrived, along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, they got prepared for the trip. "What does Princess Celestia want us for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You know...stuff," Twilight replied as she didn't want to speak about it around the fillies. She then turned to Spike. "Are you sure you'll be ok with foalsitting them while we're gone?"

"No problem," Spike said confidently.

"Alright then. We'll be back Sunday," Twilight replied as she put on her bag, "Let's go everyone." After they left for Canterlot, Spike helped Solana and her friends get ready for school and sent them off. As they were walking to school, Scootaloo got one of her idea smirks, and the others knew all to well she was planning something that could potentially get them in big trouble.

"Oh no...what are you planning Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle muttered.

"What if we had a party at Solana's house while the adults are gone," Scootaloo replied, "We could invite everyone from school including Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash. It isn't a real party without those two that's for sure. Leave that part to me. What about it Solana...you in?"

"Um...well...I do admit I've always wanted to have one," Solana said, "What do we do about Spike? I know he isn't going to approve of it."

"That part will be easy to take care off. All we need is a chair, rope, and of course, some fire resistant cloth," Scootaloo replied mischievously. At first they were reluctant about hosting a house party without Flareon and the others around, but they eventually gave in. The Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to tell everyone about it at school, while being careful not to let Cheerilee find out what they were planning. Scootaloo would be in charge of getting in contact with Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash. A couple of hours later, during recess, the four fillies were explaining to their classmates that the party would be taking place at Solana's house tonight.

"Are Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash going to be there?" one pony asked.

"You bet your hooves they will!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "This is going to be one awesome party!" As a result, their classmates began to murmur to each other. It quickly died down once Cheerilee began to ask what they were getting excited about. Now that the party was set, all the Cutie Mark Crusaders had to do was take care of one small dragon. Later on, at Golden Oak Library, they have only had ten minutes left before the guests arrived. It was now or never for Operation Subdue Spike.

"Hey Spike," Apple Bloom said, "Can you come here in the kitchen for a moment?" Just as he entered the Spike, the Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped him. They quickly put him on a chair, tied him rope, and covered his mouth with fire resistant cloth.

"Sorry Spike, but we can't have you contacting Twilight and running our party," Sweetie Belle said as they shoved Spike into the closest and slammed the door.

"Now that he's taking care of...nothing can stop this party!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Soon after, the guests started to arrive, including Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and of course, Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash. Once everyone arrived, Solana decided to address the room.

"Thank you for coming to our party everyone," Solana said, "Um...please don't break anything ok?" Her speech was suddenly interrupted by Scootaloo.

"What she's trying to say is...let's party!" she yelled as everyone cheered in response. It wasn't long before the party was in full swing. Even Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious were having fun. Vinyl Scratch was seen playing on her DJ table. Party Bash acted like a live host as he talked into a headset that was connected to a boombox radio that was strapped on his back and commenting on the status of the party.

"So...Diamond Tiara, the daughter of the famous business tycoon Filthy Rich, what is your opinion of the party so far?" Party Bash asked.

"It's pretty good so far," she replied, "Though I don't know why those two were invited." Diamond Tiara then pointed towards Snips and Snails, who were chugging bottles of soda while others watched. After they were done, Snips and Snails tried to see who could let out the loudest burp. It was enough to force Diamond Tiara to get away from them as far as possible. Party Bash then walked over to Solana, who was feeling like this entire thing was a bad idea.

"There she is! The daughter of the chosen one and the soon to be Princess of Equestria!" Party Bash shouted into his mic, "Why did it take so long for you to have a party like this? You could have hosted about 100 parties by now!"

"Um...what?!" Solana replied completely caught off guard, "I...uh...just thought it would be fun to have one."

"Kind and sincere, just like Princess Celestia. That's Solana for you," Party Bash said. After he left to speak with his sister, Solana's friends rushed over to her.

"I told you this was a good idea!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "This party is off the hock!"

"I have to agree with Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said, "This was definitely worth it." She then looked over at the closest door. "Should we at least check on Spike?"

"I'll do it," Solana replied. After she went inside the closet, Solana saw Spike with a scroll poking out of the cloth tried around his mouth. Someone had sent a letter. Once she took it from him and opened it, Solana's eyes widened in shock after she finished reading it. It was from Twilight and it said that they had finished their task early and were coming home tonight. This couldn't have been worse news.

"Uh oh," Solana muttered, "This is very bad." She then released Spike seeing as how his help would probably be needed soon enough.

"It's about time," Spike said as he got off the chair and read the letter Twilight had sent. As a result, he too began to panic. "If Twilight and Flareon find out I let you throw a party while they were away...I'm never going to hear the end of it! It'll be all...I told you so Spike!" Soon after, she and Spike exited the closest and ran towards Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who were watching Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon attempting Karaoke. They actually weren't that bad. Just then, Apple Bloom noticed Spike was free.

"Solana! Why did you untie him? He might try to contact Twilight!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"It's already too late for that! Solana replied, "I got a letter from my mom and she said they're coming back tonight!"

"Tonight?!" they shouted together.

"We need to get everyone out of here! Like now!" Solana exclaimed. She then ran to the middle of the room. "I'm sorry everyone, but you guys need to leave. My parents are coming home!" Unfortunately, no one was paying attention to her outcry. They just continued to party like they didn't have a care in the world. No matter what Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried, they couldn't get their guests to leave. Solana completely lost her patience. "Get out!" Solana yelled as she floated into the air and released a magical blast so powerful, it threw everyone out the door.

"Whoa," Scootaloo muttered as Solana floated back down, "Remind me never to make you angry."

"Never mind that...we need to get this place cleaned up!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. They immediately began to clean the trashed house as best they could. Chibiterasu and Owlowiscious helped too. Whatever they couldn't throw away, they hid inside the closest. Just as they finished putting the books back on their shelf, they heard a knock on the door. Shortly after, Flareon, Twilight, and the others appeared.

"We're back," Flareon said as he set down his bag.

"Did you have any trouble Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Nope! No problems here! It's not like we threw a party or anything!" Spike awkwardly replied. As a result, Scootaloo hit him on his shoulder. Just before they could figure out why Spike was acting weird, they heard a knock on the door. Flareon went to answer it and saw Snips and Snails.

"Oh hi Flareon!" Snips said happily, "Tell Solana the party she threw was the best ever!"

"Yeah! I can't wait for the next one the Cutie Mark Crusaders have! Bye!" Snails said as they walked away to head home. Meanwhile, Solana and her friends were tying to slowly walk away unnoticed, but their progress was suddenly halted when they heard a loud grunt from Flareon. When the Cutie Mark Crusaders turned around, they saw the angry faces of seven adults staring back at them. There was no way of getting out of this one.

"Spike," Flareon muttered in a serious tone, "Mind explaining what they were talking about?" Almost immediately, Spike broke down as he fell before Flareon and grabbed his front hooves.

"They tied me up and threw me into the closet!" Spike cried out as he pleaded his innocence, "I'm sorry!" In response, Flareon let out a disappointed sigh.

"So...what do you four have to say for yourselves?" Flareon asked.

"We're sorry," the Cutie Mark Crusaders replied together with their heads down.

"It's my fault," Solana muttered, "I let them talk me into throwing a party while you guys were away." She then turned to face Spike. "I'm sorry for tying you up and putting you inside the closest." Before Flareon was able to speak again, Twilight put her left hoof softly on his shoulder.

"So...how are we going to punish them?" Twilight asked. Suddenly, Flareon smiled as he got an idea for how Solana and her friends could repay them for throwing a party behind their backs.

"I think I have an idea," Flareon replied with a smile. When he whispered it into Twilight's ear, she smiled too.

"Now that is what I call a great idea," Twilight said as they turned to face the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were practically ready for any amount of punishment they were going to receive. Luckily though, Flareon and Twilight decided to let Spike off the hook. The next day, at Apple Acres, Applejack hosted a huge party, similar to the one the Cutie Mark Crusaders hosted. Like before, all their classmates were invited, including Cheerilee. Not to mention, Vinyl Scratch and Party Bash. This time however, Solana, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, were servants as punishment for the day before. They would serve pop, chips, and whatever they were requested to bring. Flareon, Twilight, and their friends, decided to have a toast celebrating the success of the party. When Party Bash asked the Cutie Mark Crusaders the next time they would host their own party, they told him never again as the punishment they were experiencing was bad enough. All's well that ends well.


	24. Ponyville's Got Talent

Chapter 24  
Ponyville's Got Talent

Princess Celestia's 37th birthday was drawing near and ponies everywhere were getting prepared to celebrate the birth of their dear princess. Mayor Mare was trying to think of a way the town of Ponyville could show their appreciation for Princess Celestia, when suddenly, she thought of an idea. A talent show with the winner preforming their act at Princess Celestia's birthday party in Canterlot. She quickly began to spread the word around, and not long after, ponies everywhere began to sign up for the event. Notable ponies included were Flareon, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike, Diamond Tiara, Vinyl Scratch, Snips and Snails. Once the stage was set and the judges were selected, the talent show was ready to begin. The huge crowd roared loudly as the announcer of the competition walked across the stage. The male earth pony was seen wearing a white suit. Once he stopped at the microphone on the middle of the stage, he began to address the audience.

"Hey there everyone! Welcome to Ponyville's Got Talent! My name is Big Shot and I will be your strikingly handsome host," Big Shot stated, "First off...let me introduce you to our three fine judges!" He then pointed to where the judges were sitting behind a table. "You know her, you love her, everyone's favorite fashion guru...Photo Finish! Next up, all the way from the northeast city of Sweeten, the famous movie star...Hasselhoof! Last but not least, the lovable and comedic game show host...Manedel!" After Big Shot waited for the crowd for cheer for the judges as they waved back at them, he pointed above him where three giants electronic boxes hanged above the stage. "Our contestants will have to impress our judges the best they can, but if the judges give them three red X's, their act is immediately cancelled. All our contestants need to do is to receive two green circles to move onto the finals where you, our audience, will vote for your favorite act. The winner will get to preform their act during Princess Celestia's birthday party in Canterlot!" Once again, the crowd cheered. "Now then...here's our first act of the day! The one and only chosen one...the Hero of Equestria...Flareon!" The crowd cheered as Flareon, with his guitar, walked across the stage to Big Shot. "So...what are going to do Flareon?" Big Shot asked.

"I'm going to play a song on my guitar," Flareon replied with a smile. After Big Shot wished him good luck, he walked off the stage to his right to wait with the other contestants. Soon after, Flareon began to play a soft rock song. The song was so good that none of the judges even bothered to move their hoof towards their red button. They were so impressed by the song that they gave him a standing ovation, just like the crowd did, after Flareon was done. Immediately, all three judges went for their green buttons and gave Flareon a total of three green circles. It was no doubt a perfect performance. It was now time for the judge's review. Luckily for Flareon, they absolutely loved it.

"Magnificent! Bravo! Vundabar!" Photo Finish exclaimed.

"Now that is what I call a song," Hasselhoof stated with a wink.

"That performance definitely sets the bar high for the other contestants," Manedel said. After Big Shot congratulated him, Flareon walked off the stage to his right. The next two contestants that preformed were Twilight and Fluttershy. Twilight showed off her amazing magical skill, while Fluttershy had Angel and her animals do some very impressive tricks. Overall, both received high praise from both the judges and the crowd. Each of them got three green circles. After Fluttershy walked off the stage, it was now Rainbow Dash's turn.

"Here we go! It's the fast and furious speed demon...Rainbow Dash!" Big Shot exclaimed as Rainbow Dash came walking onto the stage as the crowd cheered for her. "So Rainbow Dash, what are you going to show us?"

"I'm going to do some wicked aerial maneuvers and finish it off with my signature move, the Sonic Rainboom," Rainbow Dash replied. She then pointed up and everyone saw hoops cloaked in fire, thanks to a certain fire element alicorn, and some hoops that were moving up and down and left to right magically, also thanks to a certain purple unicorn. It looked like a mid-air obstacle course. A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew into the air and quickly maneuvered through all the hoops with ease. She then went high into the air and preformed her Sonic Rainboom. After Rainbow Dash was done, she received a standing ovation from both the crowd and judges. Adding to her amazing performance, Rainbow Dash got three green circles.

"Wow! Just...wow!" Photo Finish shouted happily.

"Amazing...no other way to describe it," Hasselhoof proudly said.

"I was blown away!" Manedel exclaimed. Once Big Shot congratulated her, Rainbow Dash walked off the stage to her right. The next three contestants that preformed were Spike, Diamond Tiara, and then Applejack. Spike attempted to show off his physical strength, Diamond Tiara attempted to sing, and Applejack did some rodeo tricks with her rope. Overall, Applejack did very well getting three green circles, though Manedel thought it was good, not great. The other two however, were not as lucky. Spike's attempt to show off his muscles, mostly directed toward Rarity, was a complete failure as he couldn't even lift up a 100 pound dumbbell. Spike did though get one green circle because Photo Finish thought Spike was adorable. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the response Spike was hoping for. As for Diamond Tiara, let's just say that she should probably stick to Karaoke. She ended up receiving three red X's in less than 30 seconds. The good news for her, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were able to cheer her up. Soon after, Big Shot returned to the stage.

"Next up is the wild, crazy, funny girl that always brightens up a room...Pinkie Pie!" Big Shot exclaimed as Pinkie Pie came walking up to the stage as the crowd cheered for her.

"Alright Pinkie Pie...just what do you have in store for us?" Big Shot asked like he was scared of her answer.

"I'm going to do some stand-up comedy!" Pinkie Pie yelled into the mic. Everyone, including the judges and the crowd, let out a relieved sigh. Once Big Shot left the stage, Pinkie Pie stood up to the mic and immediately brought out her best material, including some hilarious and spot on impressions of her friends. Overall, her comedic performance went very well as she ending up receiving three green circles.

"My ribs are still hurting from laughing so much!" Manedel exclaimed as he was still wiping tears of joy from his eyes.

"So funny! I almost died of laughter!" Photo Finish shouted happily.

"The best stand-up comedic performance I've ever witnessed in my life, hooves down," Hasselhoof stated with smiling. Once Big Shot congratulated her, Pinkie Pie walked off the stage as she waved to the audience. The next three contestants were Vinyl Scratch, Rarity, Snips and Snails, then the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Vinyl Scratch played on her DJ table, Rarity showed off her fashion skills, Snips and Snails tried mindreading, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders put on a play. Overall, three of the four acts did great. The Cutie Mark Crusaders' play was a combination of both robots and pirates. As crazy as it was, their play got a very good review giving them three green circles. Snips and Snails however, did absolutely terrible. Out of nearly 100 guess attempts, they got only one right, and that was Photo Finish thinking about a pillow. Mostly because she was ready to fall asleep due to their act. The reason why it took the judges so long to give Snips and Snails three red X's was because Snips and Snails somehow kept them from pressing their buttons. Rarity's act was speed designing. In just three minutes, she managed to design twenty dresses. Manedel and Hasselhoof were impressed, but neither was as impressed as Photo Finish was. She almost fainted due to Rarity's amazing performance. Not only did the audience love it, she received three green circles in return. Vinyl Scratch preformed as a DJ to a song that she picked herself. Her act received a standing ovation from both the audience and the judges. Not to mention, Vinyl Scratch got three green circles. In the end, out of all the contestants that participated, only 13 made it to the finals. Flareon, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Vinyl Scratch were among the finalists. Now they the final 13 were selected, the judges and audience began to vote on their favorite. After the voting was finished, Big Shot walked onto the stage where the final 13 were waiting anxiously. He was carrying an envelope in his mouth.

"What I have here is the name of the winner!" Big Shot exclaimed as he opened the envelope. Once he read it, Big Shot turned to face the finalists. "Can I have Flareon, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy remain on the stage? I'm sorry to everyone else, but one of these three ponies is the winner." After the other ten left, the audience became silent. This was the moment they had been waiting for. "The winner of Ponyville's Got Talent is...Fluttershy!" The noise that followed after was almost deafening as both the crowd and judges clapped for Fluttershy. After Flareon and Rainbow Dash congratulated her, they walked off the stage clearly defeated, but still happy that they tried their best.

"Congratulations Fluttershy!" Big Shot yelled as he hugged Fluttershy, who was still shocked she and her animals managed to win. "As promised, you will preforming your act at Princess Celestia's birthday party in Canterlot tomorrow! What would you like to say to your fans out there?"

"Um...thank you for voting for me," Fluttershy muttered, "Angel and my animals were the real stars. I'm so proud of them." Soon after, all the other contestants came on stage to congratulate Fluttershy, while the crowd cheered for her name. The next day, at Canterlot Castle, Fluttershy and her animals were seen preforming their act that won Ponyville's Got Talent in front of Princess Celestia. She was overcome with happiness after watching it and asked Fluttershy if she could preform it during her younger sister Luna's birthday party, which was in four months. Fluttershy was more than happy to accept her offer.


	25. Light The Darkness

Chapter 25  
Light The Darkness

Alexei, also known as the Dragon of Darkness, was the greatest threat Equestria ever faced. It was thought when Alexei was defeated by Flareon, ponies in Equestria would never have to fear him ever again. It would soon turn out, that was not the case. It all began one seemingly peaceful afternoon. Just outside of Death Valley, a small rabbit was digging a whole in the ground, when suddenly, it spotted something strange. It seemed to be a black object, like dragon scales, buried in the ground. The rabbit was unable to resist its curiosity and decided to touch it. It would soon learn that was a very bad idea. Right after the rabbit made contact with the black dragon scales, they erupted like a volcano, and the rabbit was instantly engulfed in darkness before it had a chance to escape. However, the darkness didn't stop there as it began to engulf everything in sight, including the sky itself. The worst part, it was slowly beginning to make its way towards the capital of Equestria. Speaking of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was standing out on the castle balcony, admiring the city and its residents. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that made her heart stop. It was a gigantic black wall that even touched the sky.

"No," Celestia muttered, "The darkness? This can't be...Luna! Luna!" Soon after, Princess Luna came running due to hearing her sister's panicked cries for help.

"Sister! What's wrong?" Luna asked concerned as she saw the scared face of Celestia. Luna then turned to where Celestia was staring at and just like her sister, she too began to panic. Suddenly, Celestia grabbed Luna.

"Get all the residents to evacuate the city immediately!" Celestia exclaimed, "I'll go contact Flareon and Twilight." Right away, the two princesses went off in different directions, but their goal was the same. The darkness was coming and they had to everything they could to make sure everyone was safe. Later on, while Luna was busy getting the Canterlot residents to safety, Celestia brought Flareon and Twilight over to where the darkness was. Both Flareon and Twilight couldn't believe their eyes. It was as bad as Celestia had told them back when she arrived at their house.

"No...this isn't possible! The darkness? How is even happening?!" Flareon exclaimed. Celestia turned to face him with a serious look on her face.

"Flareon...back when you fought against Alexei. Did you happen to notice anything that seemed off about him in anyway?" Celestia asked. Flareon immediately began to ponder about when he prepared to fight against Alexei to see if he could remember anything that was different about him. Just then, something came to his mind. Even though it wasn't a big deal at the time, now it meant everything.

"Wait...I think I remember seeing Alexei with a small hole on the right side of his chest," Flareon muttered, "I was so caught up in wanting to beat him, I didn't really notice it."

"You think Alexei purposely tore off a part of his body and hid it somewhere before he fought against Flareon?" Twilight asked, "It's almost like Alexei designed a backup plan in case Flareon ever defeated him."

"That is most likely the reason Twilight," Celestia replied, "Even in death, Alexei still finds a way to haunts us." After seeing the depressed faces of Celestia and Twilight, Flareon gritted his teeth as he wasn't about to let Alexei get his revenge. Flareon quickly went into Flame God Mode and flew to the darkness. He then charged up a huge fireball and shot it directly at the darkness. Unfortunately, the fireball had no effect whatsoever as the darkness simply consumed it like a small lit match disappearing inside a giant dark cave. Seeing as how wasting any more of his power would be pointless, Flareon turned back to normal and flew over to Celestia and Twilight.

"It's ok Flareon," Twilight muttered as she put her right hoof softly on his shoulder, "I'm sure there has to be another way to stop it."

"Twilight...I'm giving you the mission of inventing a spell that can destroy this darkness once and for all," Celestia stated confidently, "This will be your final mission as my apprentice." Twilight was completely caught off guard as she couldn't believe Celestia was giving her such an important task.

"You can count on me Princess Celestia!" a determined Twilight replied, "I promise I won't let you down!"

"The future of Equestria rests on you Twilight," Celestia said with a smile, "I believe in you." Soon after, they made haste for Canterlot so Twilight could get started on making a spell that could destroy the impending darkness. If she failed, Equestria would be lost in darkness forever. Later on, in the castle archives, Twilight was furiously going through books trying to find anything that could give her some sort of clue on a spell that could destroy darkness. Flareon was also helping her while Solana, Spike, and their friends, brought books from Golden Oak Library that Twilight had requested. Hours later, the darkness was almost near Canterlot, and Twilight was getting desperate. She still hadn't figured out a spell yet. Things were looking grim. That's when Twilight began to break down in tears.

"There has to be something...anything!" Twilight exclaimed as she tossed a book onto a nearby pile. Flareon walked over to her and put his roof hoof softly on her shoulder.

"Come on Twilight...don't give up," Flareon replied, "I know you can do it." As Flareon was trying to comfort a worried Twilight, Solana walked over and put down a book before them called 'Light Your Fear'. This book is Solana's favorite and one Flareon and Twilight read to her as a bedtime story more than a dozen times when she was little.

"Um...mom," Solana muttered, "Maybe this book can help. After all...remember how it helped me when I was afraid of the dark?" Twilight looked down at the book that Solana placed in front of her. After Twilight open the book and flipped through some of the pages, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"That's it! This book...I think I know what to do!" Twilight exclaimed happily.

"What do you mean? How does this kid's book have the answer?" Flareon asked.

"Look!" Twilight replied as she showed him the open book, "Three fillies were afraid of the dark and couldn't go to sleep. Their mom sensing their fear, told them to gather all their hope and happiness and direct it towards her. She then fired a magical beam of pure light that was able to make the darkness go away. As a result, the three fillies were finally able to fall sleep." She then slammed the book shut and hugged Solana. "Thank you." Twilight turned to face Flareon. "We're going to need the Elements of Harmony and your fire magic Flareon. I'll contact the others and tell them to bring their Elements of Harmony and to met us in front of the darkness." Soon after, Twilight quickly left to send word to their friends. Later on, Twilight and their with friends, while wearing their Elements of Harmony, made it to where Flareon, Solana, and Spike were waiting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna before the wall of darkness.

"So...we ready to do this or what?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly.

"Ok everyone...I'm going to need you to activate your elements at send a magical beam to my tiara, while at the same time, Flareon will send a beam of fire at my tiara too," Twilight stated without hesitation, "I also need all of you to think of everything that gives you hope and happiness while your magic charges my element so I can shoot a beam of pure light at the darkness. This should destroy it once and for all." After the others nodded their heads in agreement, Twilight turned to face the darkness that was slowly coming towards her. "Do it now!" Immediately, Rainbow Dash and the others activated their elements. Each of them shot a magical beam at Twilight's tiara, while Flareon shot a beam of fire at her tiara too. Once her element was charged to the highest level possible, Twilight activated her tiara and shot a beam of pure light directly at the darkness. Suddenly, the darkness quickly began to disappear as the light pushed it back and destroyed it all the way back to where it had originated from. The darkness was finally gone. Adding to that, everything that was previously consumed by it, including the rabbit, were left unharmed. Meanwhile, as Flareon and the others were beginning to celebrate, Twilight suddenly began to float into the air. A bright flash of light appeared from Twilight's tiara that quickly engulfed her. Once the light vanished, Twilight was seen with wings. She had transformed into an alicorn. As Twilight landed back to the ground, everyone was left absolutely speechless.

"Wings? Twilight...you're an alicorn!" a surprised Flareon burst out, "How?"

"I think I may know," Celestia replied, "The spell Twilight used must have fulfilled her deepest desire in return for using it." Flareon quickly turned to Twilight, who was admiring her new wings.

"You're desire was to become an alicorn? Why?" Flareon asked.

"No silly," Twilight replied as she hugged him, "I just wanted to have wings so I could fly with you and Solana. We're a family after all." Flareon smiled back at her and then kissed Twilight. Soon after, Twilight was surrounded by her friends who began to congratulate her on getting wings, and of course, saving Equestria.

"Now you, me, and dad can all fly together," Solana said. She then looked at her own small wings and sighed. "I just wish mine would grow out already so I could actually use them." Twilight smiled as she patted her daughter on the head.

"Be patient Solana," Twilight replied. She then turned to face Princess Celestia. "What was that special something you were going to give me Princess Celestia?" In response, Celestia flinched as if she had just regretted something.

"Oh...um...I'm making you an official princess! Congratulations!" Celestia exclaimed awkwardly. Everyone was left completely dumfounded.

"Really?!" Twilight exclaimed happily, "Thank you Princess Celestia! Thank you so much! I've always wanted to be one! It was actually my second deepest desire." As everyone was trying to figure out what just happened, Princess Luna grabbed hold her Celestia.

"Sister...what are you doing?!" Luna whispered, "Why are you making Twilight Sparkle a princess?"

"Twilight just saved Equestria and had her deepest desire fulfilled! I had no other choice!" Celestia whispered back, "Also...I might have promised Twilight a special reward once she destroyed the darkness. I was going to give her a nice fruit basket, but that's clearly out of the question now. Besides...it's her second desire to become a princess after all. Having another one isn't going to hurt anything." In response, Princess Luna let out a deep sigh as her sister dug a hole she couldn't get out of.

"Wait...if Twilight is a princess, does that make me a prince?" Flareon asked.

"Um...sure Flareon...you're a prince now! Congratulations!" Celestia exclaimed awkwardly again.

"Sister...shouldn't we be having a ceremony for this?" Luna asked. In response, Celestia put her right hoof on her face as she sighed deeply.

"Fine," Celestia muttered, "We'll do it your way then." Later on, much to Princess Celestia's exhaustion, she hosted a ceremony in Canterlot Castle announcing Flareon and Twilight and as the new prince and princess of Equestria. The party that followed after it was one of the biggest ones Canterlot ever had. After the party was done, everyone left to return home for the night. Flareon, Twilight, Solana, and Spike were about to head home too, when suddenly, they were met by Princess Celestia. She asked them if they wanted to move into the castle seeing as how Flareon and Twilight were now a prince and princess. Celestia was actually pleasantly surprised when they refused her offer and told her that Golden Oak Library was their true home. After they waved goodbye to Princess Celestia, Flareon and his family took a nice long train ride back to Ponyville.


End file.
